“Good female. Now eat,” he commanded in a husky whisper, his words for my ears only.
He made a point of taking a bite of food before placing another forkful by my lips. Still, he wasn’t finished with teaching my lesson yet, and in front of all, I was forced to eat the food he hand fed me. My skin was bright red and hot, but after the first mouthful, the audience stopped watching, losing interest as conversation flowed once more.
The punishment was over.
I ate the rest of the food silently and with no complaint. Alpha Roarke may have taken my silence for my being mad at him, but I was watching the dynamics of the pack. If I was to lead, I needed to know how everyone interacted, who was friends with who, and who had beef, ambitions.
The brunette who had mocked me earlier was smitten with our mate, her dark eyes always trying to catch his, but he didn’t give her a second glance. I would have to keep my eyes on her. My wolf was snapping her teeth at my control, already wanting to show the she-wolf her place, to teach her that Alpha Roarke was ours and ours alone. I hated to admit that even I was annoyed by her brazen actions and was jealous of how beautiful she was. The male next to her was her double, both in an estimate of age and looks. Her twin, I had guessed.
From conversation, I picked up that his name was Ruiraidh and his father, the burly male next to him, was the head warrior in charge of training all wolves. Those who talked to Ruiraidh all smiled and laughed; he was much loved by those at the table, as was Alpha Roarke. His pack was forever seeking his approval as they conversed and he was quick to give it where it was due. He listened to their concerns, laughed at their jokes, praised their achievements.
Roarke was everything an Alpha male ought to have been.
I caught myself watching him in awe and knew I had misjudged him greatly. I now doubted there was a bad bone in his body, not with the way he so openly showed his affection and pride in those around him.
“Did you enjoy your tour of our territory, Alpha Female?” the brunette suddenly asked, the way she said my title practically a sneer that didn’t escape the attention of my mate.
“I did. The land here is very beautiful, though I wish I had been able to see more of it,” I answered, giving the female a smile with a show of fang that would be my first and only non-physical warning to her.
She would respect me or I would make her bow. Alpha Roarke’s hand on my arm had me bristling, his eyes telling me to settle. I gave him a disgruntled look before whispering, “You made me your female. I will discipline our females, as is my right.”
After studying me, he nodded once, but his reaction made me wonder about his relationship with her.
“Roarke used to run the borders with me all the time. We would go to the lake and play in the water when it got too warm. I am the only female in the pack who can keep up with his stride,” she boasted, flicking dark hair over her shoulder.
Was the only female, I thought, irritated.
“Brenna!” her brother hissed, a look of disbelief on his face. Their father looked embarrassed; I could practically hear the silent apology on his lips.
The use of my mate’s name so casually and the way she was making it clear she wanted him was the last I could take. I straightened in my seat, holding the female’s eyes until I saw the strain it took on her to test me. A low growl left my lips, my wolf rising to look through my eyes. Feral nature had me enjoying the power that rushed through my body and the way it had a few of the pack bowing their heads despite the fact I was still mostly holding back.
All at the table looked between us, waiting to see what I would do, how I would react. I knew from my mother that such behaviour could not be ignored or it would happen again. I needed to be in control, to show that I should not be messed with, that I would not cave.
“Brenna, your attempts to make me feel inadequate or like my mate would prefer you will not work. I am more than you will ever be. Roarke is my mate. He has chosen me and I him. You will do well to keep your eyes and sultry words to yourself when around him or I will have your eyes and your tongue. I am your Alpha Female, I will have your respect and submission, and if I have to, I will take it,” I warned, my voice low, head held high.
Brenna trembled, pushing her hair over one shoulder to bare her neck to me, a neck my wolf wanted between her teeth. I smirked with satisfaction, and as if nothing had happened, I carried on eating because I needed to show everyone that she wasn’t important enough to me.
The rumble of approval from Alpha Roarke almost had my wolf prancing and preening for him. I kept my calm, eyes on my food, not sparing the humiliated she-wolf another glance because she was not worthy of it.
My breathing hitched as hot breath fanned over sensitive flesh. Alpha Roarke’s scent took over my senses as he murmured seductively, his lips brushing my ear. “My female, I knew I had chosen well.”
Any pride I could have felt at such praise was washed away by lingering bitterness.
“At least you got to choose,” I retorted quietly but not quietly enough, for everyone had caught the words, and I regretted them the instant they left my mouth.
Saba’s head snapped up, her eyes wide as she stared at me in shock while Beta Zale simply shook his head, seemingly disappointed in me. My wolf was also. The bond that bound me to my mate twisted between us unhappily, punishing me with the feeling of his sadness and frustration. Alpha Roarke’s body stiffened next to mine, and before I knew what was happening, he stood, yanked me from my seat, and all but dragged me from the room.
I pulled at his grip of my elbow, growling angrily as he manhandled me. Perhaps I deserved it. I could admit that my words were only said to hurt him, and doing so in front of his inner circle instead of in private was extremely disrespectful. Struggling still, digging my heels into the floor as he led me to a door down the narrow hall, I finally managed to jerk my arm from his grip.
“Enough!” he barked, pushing me into his office and slamming the door shut behind us both. “How dare you disrespect me like that in front of my pack? Be angry at me and say as much behind closed doors because I know you’re upset that your instincts were stronger than you, but make no mistake, pup, you chose me just as much as I chose you. Your teeth marked my skin. You accepted me. Be the female I know you are. Leave the pettiness to those like Brenna.”
Hearing her name from his lips had my wolf rising again while I fought with the anger that bubbled because of his words.
“Don’t say her name in front of me. I already want her throat,” I snapped.
“So now you want to act as a mate should,” he retorted, looking down at me disdainfully.
Fangs protruded as instincts won out. I knew my eyes were glowing, my body thrumming and aching as the need to shift overruled. There were too many emotions for me to puzzle out. Was I angry because of my forced mating or because I was jealous of whatever he and Brenna shared…or maybe because I knew what he said was right and, in all honesty, I hadn’t been forced into anything and was making a fool of myself? As I fought my own thoughts, panic began to flare up, my wolf deciding it was safer for her to be in control while I felt this way because her feelings were much more black and white than my own.
Fingers gripped my hair, tugging to expose my neck before teeth bit into my mark. The growl from his lips was felt like liquid pleasure through every inch of me, my body letting him take my submission. I relaxed in his hold, breathing his scent in deeply, feeling calmer. He didn’t release my neck until control belonged completely to my skin again.
My heart fluttered in my chest as he ran his fingers soothingly through my hair, gently massaging my scalp as he did. I almost leaned into him. Almost.
“I know this is hard, but we need each other to make this work. I don’t wish for you to be unhappy. I need you to be by my side and want to be there. I need you to love this pack as I do. I want you to make this your home. We as a couple can take things slow after everything moving so fast. I know you need that time. Give me a chance, though. Gi
ve the pack a chance. Can you do that, not just for me and my wolves, but for yourself too?” he asked softly, tipping my chin up to meet his hopeful gaze.
Those eyes, I could get lost in their depths. These were eyes that could convince anyone to do anything. They showed his truth, his honesty; they were the windows to his soul. My fingers twitched by my side, wanting to run across his cheek, to fall against his chest that was as solid as his words were. Could I do what he asked? Pushing our relationship to the side for a moment, could I focus on being the maternal figure for this pack? I wanted to say yes, but saying yes went so much deeper than simply being a leader; it meant being his female. I would be his to punish and praise, to love and protect, the one to give him heirs.
My sudden panic must have been visible in my expression, because he re-tightened his grip on me, hushing me with a gentle, “Shh.”
Relaxing again under his touch, I tried to think logically while he went back to stroking my hair, something that I knew I could come to love.
“Think only of here and now. All I am asking right now is that you let me teach you how to be the Alpha Female you need to be. The rest will come with time,” he promised. “Will you let me teach you?”
Pools of pale green, shining with the unspoken vow that we would revisit my hesitancy of our relationship as mates, pulled me in until all I could think of was one word.
“Yes.”
Because what other answer could I give him, this male who had all but stolen me from everything I knew, a powerful Alpha who saw my inner strength and decided no female could be more than me, that no other was worthy of standing by his side?
Chapter Seven
Relationships
Roarke’s office was bigger than my father’s. That was the first thing I took time to notice. The first time I had been in here, I hadn’t been of any mind to really look around and take everything in, but now boredom allowed me time to study every inch of the room. A big, dark oak table took up most the space with a laptop and touch lamp perched on top, papers and folders scattered over its surface. I’d need to help him file them; a mess would not do, not in here. The window behind the desk let in natural light that caught on the strange circular stained glass ornament that hung from the middle of the curtain rail and sent streams of rainbow light through the room. These streams of colourful light hit a painting on the opposite wall that my eyes always flicked back to. It was truly beautiful, painted in dark oranges, reds, and blacks. It depicted the mighty Fenrir from Norse mythology that many believed was the first of our kind. Written at the bottom of the painting was an ancient code that most Wulver packs knew a version of: “Follow our ancestors, be loyal to family, defend the pack, howl as one.”
If that didn’t let visitors know that this was a pack that followed the ways of old, I didn’t know what would. My eyes ran over the words a few more times, my wolf rumbling her agreement with them. When I turned back around, Roarke was watching me, his gaze grave, as if to say, I will always follow this code, as must you. I looked away and wandered over to the bookshelf that took up the space on the wall beside the massive window. It was filled with ancient-looking leather-bound books and much newer hardbacks. My fingers trailed along creased spines, noting that they ranged from books on family history to wolf law and packs that had long since disappeared or merged with other, stronger packs like this one. At some point, I’d read every book I could get my hands on from this room, as pack history and origins had always intrigued me.
A small gold-framed photo was settled in the corner of the middle shelf. It showed an older couple with Roarke’s parents beside them and a small baby perched on the older woman’s hip. A family portrait, perhaps his grandparents.
It was obvious the genes on his father’s side were strong. Roarke’s grandfather and father had passed on their light brown, shaggy hair, brawn, and strong faces, while his eyes he had gotten from his mother, a pale green that in this photo, unlike the other, looked somewhat sad. I frowned, wondering what could have caused the look in her eyes when everyone around her looked so happy.
My eyes fell to the small couch, its leather worn and peeling but still warm and comfy looking. I longed to sprawl out on it, light the little fire in the room, and get lost in a book…perhaps while Roarke worked at his desk…both of us in comfortable silence. I shook my head of the fantasy, folding my arms angrily over my chest.
Having had enough of snooping around, I turned back to my mate. Roarke stood behind his desk while my mother sat in front in a rather uncomfortable wooden chair that squeaked with every small movement. My father stood by my mate, going over the papers with him, occasionally looking at documents on the laptop. It seemed that wolves still preferred paper to technology. I sat in the chair beside my mother, wishing to be anywhere else.
“The alliance with the pack near Wick has always been tenuous. They only agreed to it to begin with because it was my mother’s birth pack. Now that she’s gone, I don’t know if it will continue. The Alpha there has already declined my call for help when my parents fell. I feel they think I’m not old enough, not worthy enough to hold a relationship between our packs,” Alpha Roarke confessed begrudgingly. “They also think this pack is stuck in its ways and needs to progress to the twenty-first century.”
My father nodded. “That pack is one of the oldest and strongest besides this one, but they thrive on keeping up with the times, which makes them think themselves above packs that struggle. They would be foolish to not agree to an alliance with you, however. They’d be cutting off trade. You’re a more than capable Alpha. A show of strength might get them to concede. Don’t give in to their demands for an offering. You need to retain the upper hand in this case. Contact them again, name the packs that have already agreed to stand by you, and show them that you are worthy,” my father advised, giving Roarke’s shoulder a comforting squeeze.
It still seemed strange to me that our parents had been so close that my own had watched Roarke grow up during their visits here, yet I had never met him before and had only met his parents briefly when I was about six years of age.
My mother sighed softly from where she sat next to me, her hand resting on her bump that she rubbed gently now and again. Perhaps she was as bored as I was. I had half paid attention to the conversation and half kept an eye on my mother, who had seemed more dazed today than she had ever been before, causing me to worry.
At hearing that a pack thought my mate beneath him, however, I focussed on the conversation again, sitting up in my seat, a growl wanting to grate out. Roarke’s eyes flicked to me, a smile tugging at full lips.
“You shouldn’t have to prove anything to them. This pack was on its knees, a mess when your parents died. You managed to build it back up, arrange your high ranked, reassure your pack, and bring back routine in a matter of days. You’ve strengthened old alliances, gained new ones, protected you borders all without help. Don’t let their doubts become your doubts,” I said, meeting his gaze, trying to let him know that he had my support.
I had worked myself up with my words, wanting to find these wolves who belittled my mate and have their throats between my teeth.
“Settle, Cathwulf. They will see soon that I am stronger than they are, stronger than their Alpha, that I could take their pack for my own if I wished to,” he assured me, reaching across the table to run his fingers through my hair, soothing down my aggravation.
My mother’s eyes glinted knowingly, and I pulled away from his touch, looking anywhere but at those pale green eyes that lured me in. She knew that he tempted me, knew that my wolf was smitten with him, and she was just waiting for me to give in to the feral side that ran on instinct alone. Even the bitterness of my situation would not let me deny what I knew of Roarke’s dominance.
Yet the death of an Alpha pair and the rising of a new Alpha at an age as young as Roarke did bring scepticism to a pack. Though he may be almost twenty-six years old, most Alphas didn’t take over until thirty, sometimes even later, depending o
n the strength of their predecessor.
It only occurred to me then that I had no idea how his parents had died. How had I not realised the circumstances of their death had never been brought up, at least not when I was around? His parents had been the same age as mine, so I doubted that it was of natural causes…
“What happened to them? Does it have something to do with why the pack at Wick has lost faith?” I inquired hesitantly, watching Roarke’s face for clues to the answer.
His eyes were on me, burning with intensity, and I shifted nervously, wishing I had never asked. If I’d stayed quiet long enough, maybe they would have mentioned it themselves.
Alpha Roarke and my father looked at each other, an unspoken discussion happening between them before their attention fell back to me.
“They were murdered,” Alpha Roarke stated, his voice tight.
I froze, lips parting as I croaked out, “Murdered?”
Killing was a way of life for wolves in a way, but rarely. Fighting for challenges to position, mates, territory, it was all normal in our nature. Murder, however, was not. It was seen as a sign of weakness, cowardice, not honourable.
Roarke’s expression was pained as he gripped the back of the chair he stood behind. Instinct compelled me to go to his side, to comfort him with touch, but I was glued to my chair in shock.
“The scent around their—” He paused, closing his eyes and swallowing before finding the strength to continue. “Around their bodies did not belong to a wolf from this pack.”
I could feel his inner turmoil and grief flood the bond until it was hard to stop my own eyes from watering. It wound around my chest and squeezed until I struggled to breathe. Anger was strong beneath those feelings of loss too; his wolf demanded retribution, but the man knew he had to wait and find out more.
“An outsider, from another pack? An attempt to take over?” I asked, my voice cracking.
If this was so, it would be a betrayal of every belief we had. The pack behind it would be destroyed, an example made from them that would ring out as a warning to others for decades.
Destiny: A Fantasy Collection Page 111
