Enslaved by the Alpha (Shifters of Nunavut Book 2)

by Rivard, Viola

  “No way,” she whispered as Erik let her down onto her feet. At some point between arriving in and leaving Erik’s room, she’d lost her boots. The floor was pleasantly warm, and she approached the pool, tentatively hovering a toe over it.

  While she hesitated at the edge, Erik dove in. The impact caused the water to surge up and onto the floor, before it receded back into the pool. The feel of hot water rushing over her feet was all the encouragement she needed. She shed her top and climbed in, moaning as the water enveloped her aching body.

  “This is amazing,” she said. “I just want to stay here forever.”

  She’d been talking mostly to herself, so she wasn’t annoyed when Erik brought up his own topic. “You aren’t allowed in my room again.”

  She splashed water on her face before glancing over at him. Erik’s long, muscular arms lay spread out on the edge of the pool in a relaxed position. He was perfectly still, only his eyelids moving to blink.

  “I didn’t want to go to your room. I got lost and…it’s a long story, actually.”

  “Why was Yves with you?”

  His eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch, and she wondered if it was deliberate.

  “He sort of rescued me. Like I said, I got lost, and then my lantern was running out of gas. Then it broke, but that was more his fault because he startled me. I’ve actually been really jumpy lately. I’m starting to think I might have PTSD, or something. Anyway, I probably would have died if it weren’t for him…”

  She trailed off as his eyes narrowed to slits. Definitely deliberate.

  “I would have found you long before you died,” he said.

  “You didn’t even know I was lost. You wouldn’t have found me at all if you hadn’t come back to your room.”

  She wasn’t sure why she was debating with him when he was in such a foul mood. For that matter, she wasn’t sure why she ever bothered debating anything with him. It wasn’t like she was going to win.

  “I only came to my room because I was following your scent.”

  “Oh,” was all she could think to say.

  She drifted in the water for a bit, letting the heat sink into her bones. Once she was sufficiently relaxed, she began to comb her fingers through her tangled curls. When she braved a glance at Erik, he was looking away from her, blue eyes pensive.

  “What are you thinking?”

  Apparently, her mouth had a mind of its own today, and that mind was an idiot. Erik seemed to agree. He cast her a dry look.

  “Why would I tell you that?”

  Something about the way he said ‘you’ annoyed her. “I get it, I’m so beneath you. But that’s exactly why you could tell me anything. Hardly anyone talks to me, and even if they did, no one would ever believe their great-and-powerful alpha permitted a mere mortal into the privileged confines of his mind. So, what are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking about drowning you.”

  Astrid lowered her head until the water rose just above her chin. “You could have just said ‘nothing.’”

  A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips, but it vanished quickly, as though swept away by the mist.

  “I am thinking I should have killed you,” Erik said, his expression inscrutable. “Obsessing over you is growing tiresome.”

  The silence returned, and this time it made her squirm. Erik climbed out of the water and wrapped the pelt around himself.

  “I’m sending Sten to track a group of trespassers,” he said, his back to her. “They’re headed east, towards Siluit. While he’s there, he will investigate your sister’s whereabouts and reclaim her, if possible.”

  Astrid brought her hand up to cover her mouth. “You mean it? When is he leaving?”

  “Tomorrow morning.” He cocked his head to peer at her from over his shoulder. “Don’t think I’m doing this because you begged. I’m only sending him because circumstances have changed.”

  Any appreciation she’d felt promptly evaporated. “I didn’t beg you. I asked you to uphold your end of our deal, seeing as how I’m upholding mine by being your slave.”

  He gave a dry laugh. “Don’t pretend to be a victim. You asked to be here.”

  “You killed my guides,” she said, raising her voice. “It was either you or the tundra, and I’m starting to think I made a mistake.”

  Erik crouched down by the water’s edge and mocked her with his grin. “Then shall I throw you back out there?”

  “We both know you’re never going to let me go.”

  Help will never come.

  I’ll never see my home again.

  I’m going to die down here.

  It wasn’t a moment of startling clarity, Astrid realized. She had known it all along, and had just refused to accept it. This was her life now. Coldness, darkness, and Erik.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Astrid set her bag down on the floor, freeing her hands up just in time for Erik to unceremoniously dump the silk blankets into her arms. She muttered a thanks and carried them over to place them down on her bed.

  “Don’t leave this room again without my permission.”

  Astrid froze, her back still to him. “What?"

  “Your hearing cannot be that bad, human.”

  She turned to glower at him. “I suppose you’ll also be leaving me with a bucket, or shall I just pee on the floor?”

  “It works for your dog.”

  He turned to leave. Astrid was livid, but she knew that she’d have to shove her anger aside, at least for the moment.

  She told him, “I need to go with Sten to Siluit.”

  Barely an hour ago, Erik had told her he was sending Sten to the eastern territory, both to track a group of bears and to search for her sister. It had come as a shock to Astrid, because this news came shortly after Erik had told her in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t looking for Ginnifer anytime soon.

  Erik glanced at her over his shoulder, one brow arched. It was a look that said, “You are clearly out of your mind.” He then proceeded to exit the room.

  Rather than puzzle over her next course of action, Astrid reacted. She stormed out of the room, following him into the tunnel with her fists clenched at her sides.

  “I’m so sick of you ignoring me!” she yelled. “You want to keep me prisoner, keep me in a room for God only knows how long—fine! It’s not like I can do anything to stop you. But at least do me the damn courtesy of responding when I talk to you.”

  She was huffing by the time she finished, and was proud of herself for not backing down once Erik turned to narrow his gaze on her. His face held none of its trademark mockery, or the smoldering irritation she’d become familiar with. The look he gave her was utterly cold, and it took all of her grit to keep from shaking.

  “You lost any right to courtesy when you brought armed men into my territory.”

  Astrid felt a lump grow in her throat.

  “I fucked up,” she admitted. “And I’m sorry. My sister was in danger and I had to get her back.”

  His tone took on a severe edge. “And your sister’s life was worth more than those of my entire pack?”

  The word “no” was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t coax it out. It would have been an outright lie. She remembered having the exact thought that she would get Ginnifer back, no matter the cost to the wolves. Back then, their lives had seemed inconsequential. How could she possibly expect Erik to treat her like a person when she hadn’t treated his kind as such?

  Astrid relaxed her posture and removed the challenge from her tone. “Please, I’ll do whatever you ask me to, just let me go with Sten.”

  “You’ve already given me everything you have to offer.”

  Astrid flinched. The words had stung, and even Erik seemed to second-guess them.

  “Why do you think you need to go with him?” he asked.

  Knowing she didn’t have time to lick her wounds, she stayed on point. “If Ginnifer doesn’t know that I’m with Sten, she probably won’t trust him. She may refus
e to come.”

  He seemed unimpressed with her reasoning. “I imagine she’d sooner take her chances with a wolf that claims to have been sent by her sister than remain imprisoned.”

  Astrid began wringing her fingers. “Well, she’s not technically imprisoned.”

  “Not technically imprisoned?” Erik repeated, his voice deathly calm.

  She took a deep breath, before saying, “Not in the conventional sense, no. You see, before she started filming Siluit, Zane held her captive and I think she developed Stockholm’s syndrome.”

  “Stockholm’s syndrome?”

  Erik took a step forward, forcing Astrid to step back. She held up her hands in front of her, as though the feeble gesture could somehow protect her from the alpha.

  “It’s basically a psychological um, thing, where people bond with their captors,” she said, taking another step back. “It was established after a Swedish bank was robbed and the—”

  “If your sister is not being held captive then why are you here?” he asked, backing her up against the wall.

  “She left a note!” Astrid squawked, pressing her hands against his chest. “Two months ago, when Ginnifer disappeared, she left me a note saying she was going back to Nunavut to be with Zane. She never gave me a chance to talk her out of it, she just left.”

  “You’re telling me that your sister rejoined the pack of her own volition?”

  “They brainwashed her!” she tried to explain. “Look, you never gave me a chance to fully explain before, so you can’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad.”

  Astrid blinked at him. “You’re not?”

  “No.”

  She scrutinized his face, surprised to find that he almost looked pleased.

  That can’t be good.

  “Why not?”

  “Because there is only one reason a human female would join a wolf pack.” He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You’re not so useless after all.”

  She gave him a wary look. “I’m not?”

  “Zane and I have been rivals for nearly a decade now,” he said, his lips curving. “And I finally have the upper hand. I have his mate’s sister.”

  ***

  “There has been a change of plans.”

  Erik stood over his brother as Sten packed his bag. Sten’s room was a two-chambered cavern, which he’d seemed to have gone out of his way to model after a human house. The room was filled with so much furniture that shifting inside of it was nearly impossible. While Erik didn’t mind being in his human form, he strongly disliked being confined to it.

  Sten glanced up at him, brows drawn together. Then, his gaze moved to the human, who stood beside Erik, fuming.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “We’re going with you,” Erik told him. Before Sten could question him further, Erik explained, “The human has just informed me that her sister is Zane’s mate.”

  Erik still wasn’t entirely certain how he would best use this revelation to his advantage, but a plan was slowly forming and he’d have time to work out the details during the journey.

  “Is this true?” Sten asked, still looking at Astrid.

  “I don’t know,” she said, scratching the back of her neck and fidgeting.

  Did she realize how poor of a liar she was?

  “Have you made arrangements for your pup?” Erik asked.

  Sten nodded. “A couple of the females will be watching her in shifts.”

  “Good. Go tell Sabine that she is in charge. Sylvestre will come with us, as will…Yves. Meet us above ground in fifteen minutes.”

  On their way out of the den, the human shunned him with her silence. During the walk to Sten’s room, Erik had all but dragged her along as she’d pulled and protested. While he didn’t typically tolerate dissent, he found her efforts to combat him rather amusing, as she was woefully incapable of asserting her will on him.

  Erik shifted as they passed through the main room, prompting a startled sound from the human. He grabbed the pelt he’d been wearing and tossed it onto his back. Then, he crouched down and motioned with his head for her to climb on.

  Brows furrowed, she folded her arms under her breasts. “Wait, shouldn’t I pack something? A change of clothes at least? Do we really have to go right this minute?”

  Erik cast her a withering look. Hardly an hour ago, she’d been begging to go to Siluit, and now she was going out of her way to be difficult. To resist him in private was one thing, but if she thought she was going to be defiant in front of his pack, he would have to set her straight.

  A pronounced growl and a flash of teeth were all it took to get her scrambling onto his back. He felt an odd sense of relief that she’d succumbed so easily, as he hadn’t wanted to take more drastic measures.

  Though she obeyed quickly, she seemed incapable of following orders quietly. Her silent strike now over, she took to muttering her complaints under her breath.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” she said as she climbed onto him. When she sat down, she let out a hiss of pain. “Oh my God! I’m too sore for this. You may as well just kill me, because if I have to sit like this for more than fifteen minutes, I’m going to find the nearest cliff and throw myself off it.”

  Erik tried to ignore her. Images of her falling to her death flitted through his mind, riling up his wolf. He considered letting her fall for a few seconds once they were outside. Perhaps it would prompt her to reevaluate the foolish notion, or at least motivate her to start thinking before she spoke.

  But once they exited the den, she clung tightly to the fur at his neck. He had no desire to shake her off into the frozen ravine that lay below the narrow pathway. Instead, he felt a sense of unease.

  Had the path always been this precarious?

  Had the ravine always been so deep?

  Could her human body survive such a fall, or would her bones shatter on impact?

  Was there a way that he could fall, so that his sturdier body could take the brunt of the impact?

  While his newfound paranoia disturbed him, Erik didn’t bother trying to dispel the invasive thoughts. He was beginning to accept that so long as his wolf felt bonded to the human, he would not be in complete control of his mind. He decided that so long as she did not influence his actions outside of sex, this was a manageable annoyance.

  “I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish,” she said, her tone more subdued now. “If you think you’re going to blackmail Zane because I’m Ginnifer’s sister, you’re dead wrong. If Ginnifer is his mate, she’s probably just as much of a prisoner as I am. If the situation were reversed, would you let Zane blackmail you?”

  No, Erik thought. He would never compromise his pack for her, of that much he was certain. He would toss his own brother into the ravine if it served the pack’s best interests.

  But Zane? He was soft, just as his sire had been. Erik had no doubt that Zane had jumped at the first opportunity to take a mate, and just like his father, she would be his undoing.

  “And even if she isn’t Zane’s prisoner—if she is so messed up that she’d believe they had some sort of relationship—then Ginnifer wouldn’t let you blackmail him. Not for me. I’m the good sister, the one with a sense of honor and familial piety.”

  She trailed off for a moment. One of her hands released its tight grip on his fur and began stroking his neck. He wondered if she was even aware that she was doing it.

  “How far is Siluit from here?”

  Depends on the weather.

  It took Erik a few seconds to remember that he wasn’t able to speak the words aloud, and it was then that the absurdity of her questioning hit him. Why was she even trying to hold a conversation with him while he was in his wolf form?

  He cocked his head back, intent on expressing his irritation with a look. Instead, the gesture was met with a shrill scream.

  “Watch where you’re going!”

  Her scream had startled Erik enough to cause him
to lose his footing. He skidded towards the edge of the path, barely managing to dig his claws into the ice before they plummeted down the ravine.

  Erik let out a snarl, and to his amazement, she pinched him.

  “Geez, you could have killed us!” she said. “Keep your eyes on the road.”

  He considered tossing her off his back and shifting, just so that he could yell at her and tell her how many times he’d traversed the path from his den without incident. He would not have slipped if she hadn’t startled him!

  But Erik could sense that any anger he’d mean to convey would be diminished by the relief he felt. In spite of the fact that she’d pinched him, he was glad that they were still climbing away from the abyss.

  He continued up the pathway, his steps cautious. When they finally reached the top, the black tundra stretched out into an indiscernible horizon. A red-fringed aurora whipped through the sky, complementing the subzero temperature. Erik stared out across the sea of white, ambivalence taking hold of him. The trip ahead suddenly seemed daunting, and he had to remind himself that it was in the pack’s best interest that he go forward. They could survive the winter, they always did. But with Zane’s resources, they would thrive.

  “It’s so pretty,” she whispered, her eyes on the sky. “Are we going to wait for Sten?”

  Erik shook his head. Sten will catch up.

  He trudged forward, the sound of his footsteps accompanied by the soft chatter of the human.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Sten, Sylvestre, and Yves caught up a few kilometers out. Astrid hadn’t met Sylvestre and she’d yet to see Yves in his wolf form, but she was pretty sure that she could tell which wolf was who. Yves was a small, limber white wolf with short, sleek fur. Sylvestre was twice his size—almost as large as Erik—with a solid, muscular build and long silvery fur. She waved to the three of them. Sten and Yves took notice, their eyes conveying a friendly gleam in lieu of being able to smile.

  Astrid assumed that the wolves would shift and discuss the path they’d take, or their plans for once they arrived at their destination. Instead, there seemed to be an unspoken understanding between them, and the males simply followed Erik’s lead. She was disappointed, as she realized it meant she’d have no one to talk to.