by N J Adel
To join the pack or go with the vamp.
They thought that didn’t hurt me enough every fucking day, every fucking second?
Whoever won got to spend the rest of her allowed years on earth as her mate, and the other had to leave Forest Grove until…her time ended.
Then we would start all over again.
Live with the enemy. Wait. Fight over her. Wait again for Halloween night when she would make her choice. Live the next few years accordingly. Repeat.
A sad loop Asher and I had agreed to revolve in because we had no choice but to do just that.
I couldn’t just let her die and never come back. I couldn’t face an eternity without her in it. Waiting to have a few years with her every fifty years was far better than living forever without seeing her again.
Yes, I’d doomed my pack with me, and there wasn’t a day when I didn’t wish there had been a way where I was the only one that suffered.
But I had to save her.
It wasn’t all about my selfish love for her and my refusal to just let her go. It was about her.
Rena came from a cursed bloodline. Hadn’t I made that deal that night, her soul would have gone straight to the devil. I couldn’t just let him have her. I had to do something, and that was the only deal the devil agreed to make.
“An interesting game I would like to watch,” he’d said.
The rules were clear.
No shifter killing vamp. No vamp killing shifter—as if they could.
No interference from either Asher or I in Rena’s life before she willingly came to Forest grove.
No turning her before she chose a mate.
She had to make her choice by Halloween night.
No immortality for her. Upon her choice, her mate could turn her, yet Rena would still die every time she was fifty to be reborn.
On the devil’s side, he wouldn’t screw her as long as we followed the rules or else he would lose his claim on her.
Breaking any of these rules broke the deal, and the devil would claim her soul, forever making her his.
A disgusting deal made for the entertainment of the devil and the suffering of our species. But it gave me Rena back.
I had no regrets.
My eyes swiped through the accusing faces around me. Then I nodded. “Fine. Blame me all you want, but before you do, remember we all got something out of that deal, Bear. No more Full Moon shifting. The control over when and where you change… Yeah, it looks like it’s you that need the reminder, not me.” I took off my shirt and twisted, ready for a run. “I’ll figure out what to do with Belle on my own. Thank you for the help, Brothers.”
“Alec…” Kayden’s voice died in the sounds of my morphing bones.
I shifted into the beast I’d always been, digging my claws in the dirt. Then I raced the cool wind deep into the woods.
“Alec, wait!” The shouts died behind me. I didn’t listen. I had one thought on my mind.
Go to Belle and make her mine. Whatever it took.
CHAPTER 19
ALEC
I wore the beast out with the run. Then fed it a whole deer before I morphed back into my human form. The morning sun sparkled gently on the trees, warming the air as I reached Belle’s block.
In the thick forest, I could see she was already up from the bay windows of her apartment. She walked around in a thin gown that wasn’t doing much to cover her underwear or nipples in that light. Instantly, my cock hardened. The memory of me inside her played on repeat in my head.
She didn’t seem to notice me or know I was even there. Like every day I lurked here, watching out for her, making sure that prick wouldn’t harm her.
Today would be different.
I would make her see me. In every way.
She was alone, holding a cup in her hand, smoke trailing out of it. Coffee. The fresh aroma had spilled here. Asher wasn’t there like he’d been for four days and nights in the past week.
Perfect.
Pushing the heavy branches, I emerged from behind the trees. My eyes glanced up at her as she mused at the sunrise. The street was so quiet I could tune away everything else and listen to her heartbeat. I wished she could hear mine, too.
Her lips touched the rim of the cup and froze in place as her gaze collided with mine. Her big eyes widened, and I smiled, lifting a waving hand.
Her mouth hung open, the cup fell off her hands, and her eyes grew even wider.
She looked terrified. Did I creep her out again? I thought I had a nice smile. It was certainly prettier than the parasite’s. What the fuck did she see in that—
I was knocked off my feet and landed on my ass with a figure blacked out by the sun on top of me. It took me a second to identify its smell. Belle’s.
What the fuck? How did she get here so fast?
She placed her index finger on her mouth, her long hair draping around us. I could barely see her face, but I figured she wanted me to be quiet. I wasn’t complaining she was straddling me right now, but what the hell was going on?
Another familiar scent filled the air, and instincts pulsed.
I looked to the side, into another two sets of eyes, big brown ones, surrounded by fur, lots of fur.
Yeah, the bears were here.
Swiftly, I pushed her off me and bounced to my feet, ready to fight. Whatever they were here for, they should have come in their human form. They knew better than to be around any human as beasts. It wasn’t safe.
“No, Alec. Stay down,” she whispered.
Was she scared for me? Did she actually run down here to…rescue me?
I liked the sound of that. Loved it.
“It’s okay. Just go inside and lock the door,” I whispered back, glancing down at her curled body on the grass.
She shook her head vigorously, her face white as snow, and then she pointed at me and herself. I presumed she wanted us both to sprint for the apartment building.
Of course, she didn’t know I could take the twin bears in a flash. All I cared about was her safety. I really needed her to get out of here. If they were here to stop me from talking to her—I wouldn’t listen—it could get…messy
Deep growls burst from the grizzlies. One of them lifted a paw, and Belle’s heart rocketed. I pounced fast, taking one down, yet he clawed my arm as I did.
It seared as I jumped up, the other bear getting closer. When I was about to lunge at him, hands dragged my shirt with enough force and speed to yank me out of the woods and into the building.
The door slammed shut. I stood in the dark stairwell, Belle staring at me with her enormous eyes.
“Are you out of your mind? Who the hell attacks a bear? Your blood is all over the place, Alec!”
I checked my arm. It was hardly any blood. But to her, maybe it seemed like a lot. “I’m fine. How did you get down so fast? And how, for the love of the moon, you dragged me like that?”
“I don’t know. Adrenaline.” She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “I was so scared. You’re such an idiot.” Her eyes roamed my arm. “And you’re not fine. Come with me.”
She started up the stairs, and I was more than happy to follow. Finally, I had a legit excuse to be in her apartment without her worrying about what people would say. Finally, I would have a chance to talk to her, maybe even…
A devious smile crossed my lips. She was so sexy in that sheer gown I could tear it up and take her on these very steps or against the wall. Again.
She let me in her place. I had to duck a little as I walked around afraid I’d break anything. I was too big for this miniature of an apartment. “Cozy,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed at me as she pointed at a couch. “Sit down.”
I did, and she disappeared into a room I assumed to be the bathroom. When she came out, she had a robe covering her body and a first aid kit in her hands.
I mourned the lost view in silence. She set the kit on the cherry wood coffee table and went away again.
“Where are you goin
g?” I asked, the pain in my arm more real now. I healed best in my wolf form and could stand the pain a lot better.
“Getting something sterile to clean the wound.” Her voice came a little distant, more of an echo.
She returned with towels, a big set of bandages and a basin of hot water. She put everything on the table and sat next to me. The heat emanating from her soothed my pain. Her very existence next to me, this close, had always done wonders. For a beast fated to a mate like me, her presence alone was enough for life to be good again. I couldn’t help the smile on my face.
Carefully, she put a towel on my thigh right under my wounded arm, and dipped another towel in the water. “Why are you smiling?”
“I’m happy.”
“You were almost attacked by a bear. Then you threw yourself at it. Now, you have deep gashes, oozing with blood, covering your arm. You probably have bruises all over your body, too, and you’re happy?”
“If all that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be here now, knowing that you cared enough to save and help me, watching that beautiful expression, feeling your touch again even if it is tending my wounds.”
She bent a thumb under the rest of her fingers and ran a hand through her hair. “Anyone in my place would have done the same.”
“No. They would have called the cops or animal control, and then bolted their doors, not flown down to the rescue.”
A long sigh seeped out of her mouth as she pressed the wet towel on the blood. “You need to take off your shirt.”
My brows shot up in disbelief. “Really?”
“Not for…” she grumbled, “I must check if you have other wounds or bruises.”
“Oh.” I lifted a hand to the upper button, a little embarrassed. As I moved down to the last button, I caught her peeking. I smiled again, shrugging off one arm, looking into her eyes. “Should I take off my jeans, too? It will give you a better view.”
She looked away, lifting the wet towel, a shy smile twitching on her lips. I tried to shrug the second arm and moaned quietly. Her hand reached my shoulder and finished the job for me.
“Thank you, Belle.”
She tore her gaze away from my half naked body and cleared her throat. “Professor Ferro to you.”
“No.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “We’re not at school, so I’ll call you by your sweet name.”
She sighed again and pushed my back forward gently. Her touch set a tingling through my whole body. “Bruising is already forming around your shoulders. Maybe we should go to a hospital to check if anything is broken.”
“No hospital. I have everything I need right here.”
“Alec…”
“Nothing is broken, Belle. Not bones anyway.”
She shook her head and pressed the wet towel to my arm a little too roughly. “What were you doing here, Alec?”
I growled in pain. “I came to talk to you.”
“I already explained to your brother—”
“My brother hasn’t tasted you, hasn’t felt you shake around his cock, hasn’t had one of the best moments of his life inside of you.”
Something flicked in her eyes, a mixture of anger, embarrassment and arousal. She took my good hand and put it on the towel. Then she got up. “Keep the pressure here. The bleeding isn’t stopping.”
“Where are you going again?”
“Coffee.”
“Do you have any bourbon instead?”
She came back with a…bag of coffee. I scratched my head. “What are you doing with that?”
The couch sank beside me as she sat. Then she exposed my wound, took a handful of ground coffee and covered my wound with it. She repeated the process until the gashes were all buried under a mountain of brown powder.
“Is that…sanitary?” I asked.
“Yes. It will stop your bleeding so I can stitch you up.”
“Thanks, but I don’t need stitches. I’m a fast healer.” I gazed at her, impressed. “But how did you know all that? That was not covered in the medical training course.”
A terrible darkness loomed over her for a second. Then she shrugged. “How do you think?”
The muscles around my heart squeezed. It had taken all my restraint, all my patience, not to go and save her from that fucker back then. But I had to stay away, mind my own fucking business, until she came here on her own.
The devil had always put Rena through shit, provoking me to break our deal. I would have, many times before, if it wasn’t for Kayden and the pack. They’d always stopped me in time. Despite everything, they were happy for me every time I got to be with my mate. Came to think of it, this might be what they were here for today.
To create an opportunity, to help me win her over.
I chuckled.
“What’s funny?” she asked, working out the bandages and the sewing kit.
“Not what you had to go through, of course. But how things could turn out to be in the end.”
Her gaze pierced me. “You sound much older than your age.”
“I told you I was old. You didn’t believe me.”
“Your school ID begs to differ.”
I rolled my eyes. “You can’t deny it’s hot to date a younger man as much as I can’t deny it’s hot to date an older woman.”
“Not when that older woman is your teacher.”
“That makes it even hotter,” I whispered, a chill running through my spine.
She swallowed. “We’re not dating, Alec. We just…”
“Fucked against a wall? Seriously?” I leaned forward, my mouth a few inches from hers, the urge to silence her with a kiss unbearable. “Look me in the eye and tell me it was just sex and you feel absolutely nothing for me?”
She huffed and fiddled with the med kit. “I’ll bandage you up, and you can get the stitches at the hospital. I’m running late for class.”
Without thinking, I grabbed her wrist, blaming her with my eyes. How could she not remember how she felt for me?
“Let go of me,” she said.
I took one more glance at those lips, and I just couldn’t stop myself. “Never.” I crushed my mouth against hers. She resisted at first, then her lips and tongue moved invitingly.
Closing my eyes, I groaned, my cock a solid rock. She tasted so fucking good, so vulnerable like this. But I wanted more than a taste or the hard fucking I hoped would follow that kiss.
I did the best I could to pour down every emotion I’d had for her in that kiss. Suddenly, she pulled away, as if she’d just realized what we were doing. Her fingers flew to her mouth, and she winced.
“Belle, I lo—I love everything about you. I swear to you it’s not just sex to me. You blew my fucking mind.”
“Alec, I can’t,” she pleaded.
Frustration burned more than my arm. “Tell me that kiss didn’t do something to your heart, not just your pussy, and I’ll get out of here and never bother you again.”
CHAPTER 20
BELLE
I couldn’t say it.
I couldn’t lie.
No matter how many times I’d denied it, even scared to admit it to myself, I was attracted to Alec, and not only physically.
There was this…thing I couldn’t explain that kept dragging me to him. Something old. Ancient. As if our souls had met before, in a different life, at a different time.
And it felt so terribly right.
Were we destined to each other in a past life, Alec? I never believed in soul mates or any of that new age reincarnation and spirituality—a debate I’d always had with my colleagues. But this…all this with Alec…and Joshua, even Kayden, felt so familiar and pleasing.
But how?
Even if it was true, how could I confess my feelings to him? How could I let myself get carried away without risking my entire future and perhaps even my life?
I stared back into his smoldering eyes, the golden strikes that gleamed with his need, and fought against the urge to take off those jeans and ride him hard on my sofa bed. Ugh, ev
en my furniture wanted me to drown in taboo sin.
My sex drive was another story. It was killing me. Since my birthday, I’d been horny twenty-four seven. This very boy, sitting before me, seducing me to do more nasty things to him, had unleashed a beast that night. Add that to the fact that I hadn’t had any action since the time I was with Joshua…
I fanned myself, begging brain to win this battle over pussy.
It lost.
Again.
I had serious self-destruction issues. I really needed my therapy. Thank goodness for embarrassment, though. That lady had saved my ass from taking that huge cock of my own student all inside me.
Why was I embarrassed? Well, the last time I had sex, I blacked out.
I was really enjoying myself with Joshua, and the last thing I remembered I was fucking coming for crying out loud. Then everything went black. I woke up in my bed, alone, covered in sweat, cursing myself to hell and beyond.
Why would I blackout during amazeballs sex?
Who does that?
Even though Joshua visited a few times after, hoping he’d have taken it from where we’d left off, I couldn’t embarrass myself again.
And if losing my job to another scandal that could set a monster free wasn’t enough to stop me from thinking about riding Alec’s cock, my humiliation for blacking out during sex was.
“You can’t say it because you’ll be lying to yourself before me.” He winced. “You feel something for me, too. Something strong. Maybe so strong you’re afraid. But I’ll protect you, Belle. From everything.”
“Could you please stop talking?” Every word, every whisper when he was this close, in need of my care, half naked, his taste still on my lips, was clouding my mind, numbing my rationality, driving me toward a path that would never end well. “You’re worse than the devil.”
His body stiffened, and he seemed to be…offended? “You don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s the devil that I’m trying to protect you from.”
“What?”
He glowered and rested his back on the sofa bed. “Nothing.”
