Marked by the Alpha

by Adaline Raine

  “Are you okay?”

  Dani was mortified. There was a female wolf standing over her. Dani shook her head and motioned for her to leave.

  The woman touched her hand to Dani’s head. “Have you been like this for long?”

  Dani began to retch again and she frantically waved her hand. She did not need to be taken care of for an upset stomach.

  “If it’s the drugs the hunters gave you, Dani, this won’t stop.”

  Dani groaned and continued to throw up. She could not recall a time in her life that her stomach had hurt this much. She continued to get sick. “Please leave,” Dani groaned again. It literally felt like her stomach was trying to escape her body via her mouth.

  “Is she okay?” she heard Phil’s voice ask from over her head.

  Why couldn’t she be left alone to be sick in private? She laid her head against the bowl, then looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking. “I just need to go to bed,” she groaned.

  The female wolf was touching her head now. “It’s the effect of the drugs leaving your system. Let us get you something?”

  Dani shook her off and looked down. She felt gross. “Just let me—”

  She threw up again without warning and could do nothing as the blond wolf held her up. Could she be right?

  “Go get her something, please, Phil,” the female wolf said.

  Dani began to cry. The woman rinsed her mouth out with cool water and helped her out of her clothes. She twisted a quick braid into Dani’s hair and glanced towards the door. “Phil and I were both taken once, so we know what it’s like. Just try to relax.”

  “Where is Mason?” Dani whispered. “Can you please just tell him to come up here?”

  “He’s out right now.” The female wiped at Dani’s mouth again. “I’m Portia.”

  Dani groaned again and was immediately brought up and over the bowl. She laid her head in Portia’s lap and continued to cry.

  “You were taken?” she asked Portia after a while.

  “A lot of us have been. We owe our lives to Mason. He is one of the best trackers I have ever met. He just cares that much.” Portia was rubbing Dani’s head. “Mason was taken many years ago and kept for almost a year. It kills him when one of our own is out there being held captive like an animal.”

  Dani heard footsteps walking towards them and she looked up. “I don’t think I can swallow anything.”

  Phil knelt down. “It will start to work as soon as you drink it.” He held out a small plastic cup to her lips. “Open your mouth.”

  Dani shook her head no. She was not trying to be difficult; she truly was concerned that it would just come back up.

  “I guess I can give Cal a call. He works at the hospital. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to come over and give you a shot of something.” Phil looked over Dani’s head at Portia.

  Portia reached up and took the cup from Phil. She wrapped her arm around Dani’s shoulders. “Open your mouth, please, or nothing will stay in your system and we will have to call for someone else.”

  Dani shook her head again, and then Phil leaned down and firmly squeezed her nostrils together. She glared up at him but could do little else as her mouth eventually popped open and Portia poured the liquid down her throat. She felt like a little kid being given icky-tasting medicine.

  Dani felt Phil pick her up and set her down carefully on the bed. The medication immediately quieted her stomach and she felt the cramps ease. Dani yawned as Portia pressed next to her and draped her long hair over Dani’s shoulder.

  “You are so cold, Dani, please let me and Phil keep you warm. We don’t want you to get any sicker.” Portia wrapped her arms around Dani’s waist.

  Dani wanted to argue but her teeth were chattering. She could not remember a time in her life that she had been this cold. She opened her mouth and then closed it without protest. Phil lay on the other side of her and Dani stiffened.

  “Just try to get some rest. Mason will be back in the morning and he will take care of you. Please don’t fight us any more tonight.” Phil moved so that his body was touching hers.

  Dani said nothing as he linked his hand in hers. She felt oddly safe in between the two wolves, and for the first time Dani began to feel like she was home. The icy feeling that had spread through her was now a distant memory as the heat of the other two combined together and wrapped around her body like a robe. She sighed into Phil’s back and let herself drift off to sleep.

  * * *

  Someone was rubbing small circles on her back. Dani opened her eyes and turned. The blond wolf, Portia, was sitting next to her.

  “How’s your stomach?” Portia had removed her hand and was staring at her.

  Dani let out a breath. “I’m okay now, it’s just that I’m not used to…” she faltered. She wasn’t used to any of this. Dani had never had that comfort, or someone to care for her when she was sick, and certainly not someone to discipline her. They feel like family. Her brain offered the word hesitantly. How could two people that she just met feel like family?

  Portia shrugged. “I don’t know you, Dani, and I won’t pretend that being part of pack is all about running free without any repercussions. I just want you to realize that what Phil and I did for you last night is what we would do for anyone here. We took care of you when you really needed it.” She smiled warmly at Dani and patted her leg. “I really hope that you can learn to trust us.”

  “Mason is no longer giving me a choice,” Dani grumbled.

  Portia scoffed. “How could you not want to be here? I’m not telling you to drink the Kool-Aid, Dani, I’m giving you reality. The only strength we truly have is in a pack.” She shook her head. “It never ends well when a female tries to make it on her own. There are an unusual amount of hunters in the area. It’s just not safe!”

  “Listen, I’ve been on my own—”

  “Damn your past!” Portia snapped and stood up. “Nothing in your past can possibly teach you how to be a part of a pack.”

  Dani fought the urge to growl. She was technically not part of the pack yet and had no authority over Portia. She glared for a moment before getting up and grabbing her duffle bag.

  Portia flopped back down on the bed. “Mason wants you to be the leader of the females. He wants to make you his. I just wish you could see how excited we are.”

  Dani found an outfit and shrugged it on, then turned back toward the bed. “I don’t know what any of you have been through and I know that my attitude could use some work,” she conceded.

  “I didn’t mean to snap at you,” Portia said quietly. “It’s just that Mason doesn’t offer his protection to just anyone. He doesn't just invite someone to be part of the pack; he invites them to become part of his family.”

  The family that you never had, her brain offered again. Dani crawled back onto the bed and curled up on Portia’s chest. “I don’t know how to be a part of a family.”

  Portia kissed Dani’s forehead. “We already adore you, Dani, can’t you just try?”

  Dani nodded as Portia rubbed her head. “Yes, I will try.” They lay there for a while longer until Dani heard her stomach growl.

  “I’ll be downstairs,” Portia said, then stood and walked to the door. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

  “Thank you for helping me last night.” Dani said sincerely as Portia left. This pack business was quite a bit to swallow, but she decided that she was going to try.

  * * *

  Dani had spent all day lying in bed and she had no plans to leave the room anytime soon. She stretched as she heard a loud knock on the door, and she propped up on her elbow as it swung open. Mason stepped into the bedroom and marched over to her. His features were painted with worry.

  “I’m fine, Mason,” she said, hoping to reassure him, and then sat up all the way and touched his hand. “It was just the drugs wearing off, honest.”

  He touched her forehead and then ran his hand down over her arm. “I’m sorry that I wasn
’t here for you last night.”

  “Phil and Portia took care of me,” Dani replied, but did not offer any more information. If he knew just how much of a fight she had put up he might hold it against her.

  “Yes, they told me that you were not exactly a model patient,” he said with a slight smile. “Don’t worry though; I know that you weren’t trying to be difficult and I’m not angry about it. I’m just glad that you’re feeling a little better.” He had a small bag with him, from which he produced a thermometer. “Are you still feeling cold?”

  Dani huffed and curled back under the covers. “I don’t need you to play doctor, Mason, I’m fine. I’m not putting that in my mouth.” She pulled the covers up to her chin and narrowed her eyes.

  Mason took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “Must you always be difficult? Alright, then I’ll go and get a thermometer that doesn’t require your cooperation.”

  He turned and left quickly and Dani grew alarmed. She began to sweat as his words played over and over in her mind. He could not mean that he would… Dani shook off the thought. The idea of being over his lap again was appealing—even if she hated to admit it—but she certainly didn’t want to be over his lap for… for that!

  Dani pulled her hair up into a bun and tried to calm her frantic heartbeat. She was literally dripping with sweat now and to her utter mortification she felt wetness between her legs. She growled as if that would calm her arousal. Finally the door swung open and Mason reappeared with a different thermometer in his hand.

  “I’m not a baby,” she stated as he approached the bed, trying to sound determined but instead sounding quite a bit like a baby.

  Mason laughed loud and deep as he saw her obvious misunderstanding of the situation. He held up the digital thermometer in his hand. “This one goes in your ear,” he informed her with a grin. He reached down before she could react, held her in place with one hand while slipping the thermometer into her ear with the other, and got a quick reading. “Though with way you are acting I kind of wish that I had found a different type.”

  Dani blushed furiously, and she wanted to scream at him, but she decided to keep quiet to avoid provoking him.

  “I do have some medication for you that you’re not going to like much.” Mason opened the bag and set something down on the bed. “I do need you to roll over for these.”

  Dani’s eyebrows shot up to the top of her head and she tried to gauge if Mason was playing on the previous miscommunication or if he was in fact serious this time. “My stomach is better, I can swallow pills,” she said, trying to sound perfectly healthy.

  “The medication that Phil gave you last night ensured that, but this is different. It will ensure that no traces of the drugs remain in your system.” He touched her knee. “I was not laughing to be mean; you were just so cute thinking that I was going to take your temperature… that way.”

  Dani was still gripped by a mixture of anger and arousal and she just wanted this to be over. “I don’t like this,” she said, trying to keep her voice from sounding whiny but not succeeding.

  Mason sat down on the bed and gently but firmly lifted her up and placed her over his knees. She squirmed of course, and he landed a quick smack on each of her cheeks. “Be still please. Let’s get this done so that you can take a bath and have the remainder of the day to rest.”

  Dani fumed but stopped moving; she liked being held this way even with the threat of a spanking. She felt him lower her pants and panties and then spread her cheeks apart. She was not used to the sensation and Dani clenched as his finger brushed against her exposed anus.

  “Relax. It will be cold, but I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  Dani took a breath as she felt the coolness of the suppository pressed against her back opening and then it slowly entered. She groaned with the sensation, but it was not as unpleasant as she had expected. She felt his finger deep inside her as the pill was fully inserted, and Mason’s other hand was wonderfully warm as it rested against her lower back. He did this two more times and Dani’s groans quickly turned into a moan as she writhed against his thighs.

  “They will melt within a few minutes and then you can get up.”

  Dani was breathing heavily and she wanted desperately to tell Mason that she had no intention of getting off his lap. Then his fingers brushed against her clit and she moaned.

  “Or I can find a reason to keep you in this position…”

  Mason’s tone was normally deep but it was now dripping with authority as he slid a finger inside of her aching sex.

  Dani bucked as he worked his finger in and out of her and she tried to remember the last time she had felt this turned on. Another finger was added and Dani was growling now. When she felt a finger slip into her bottom hole to complement the two in her pussy, she began to lose control. How could this man know exactly how she wanted to be touched, and what she needed just when she needed it?

  Mason increased the speed of his fingers and Dani began to thrash under the sensations that were rolling over her in a constant wave. She had never been fingered this way—he was the first man she had ever let back there and she bucked harder and harder while his fingers pumped in and out of both of her intimate openings. “Mason…” she breathed out. His fingers were thick and long and they were strumming her towards bliss.

  “Tell me what you want,” Mason commanded.

  Dani’s fire was put out as if a cold bucket of ice water had been thrown on her. “No, no, no…” she moaned sadly.

  Mason withdrew his fingers as Dani tried to scramble off of his lap. “Dani, stop. What is it?” he asked, confused.

  Dani bucked for a different reason as she clamored for the headboard. She needed to be off his lap and out of this room. “I can’t… I can’t…” she repeated over and over until Mason let go of her completely. She curled up in the corner of the room with her pants still off and tried to compose her emotions.

  Mason stood looking at her for a moment before striding to the corner and lifting her up into his arms. He took care to bring her straight into the bathroom and set her carefully down on the loveseat. Mason tugged a towel off of the nearby shelf and draped it over her lap, and then he moved to the bathtub and started the water while keeping his eyes on her. “I shouldn’t have touched you like that without asking,” he said.

  Dani’s head snapped up and his words pulled her from her daze. “No! No, Mason, it’s not that. Please don’t think that what you did was wrong.”

  Mason frowned deeply as he adjusted the water and straightened. “Then why are you so upset?”

  Dani let out a long sigh and brushed at her cheeks that were suddenly wet with tears. “I really want to be yours, Mason, and every time you ask me what I want or what I need the answer is always you.”

  Mason fiddled with the dials of the tub before leaning on the edge of it and running his hand through his hair. His expression was an odd mixture of relief and confusion as he stared at her. “Do you think that I’m so much of a Neanderthal that the moment you tell me that you want me I will just drag you off to bed and claim you?”

  Dani flushed at the thought and shrugged innocently. “I’ve heard that most alphas don’t ask a female’s permission before they claim her,” she said quietly.

  “Who told you that?” Mason asked. “It was Phil, wasn’t it?” Mason sighed. “Look, just because some alphas are brutes doesn’t mean that I have to be that way.”

  Dani flushed deeper as he turned the water off and motioned for her to come over. She took small, deliberate steps until she was next to the tub. Mason said nothing as he picked her up easily and set her gently into the water. Dani sank down into the oversized tub as Mason took her hand.

  “So you are worried that I am just going to claim you without giving you any warning?” He kissed the tops of her knuckles and tucked a stray piece of hair back behind her ear.

  Dani took a breath. “I’ve been on my own for so long, and there are so many things that I just don’t
know. I’ve never been around this many other wolves in my entire life. I certainly did not have anyone that I could ask about things like this. I don’t really know what ‘claiming’ even entails. Do we get all goo-goo eyed, state our feelings, and go fuck like puppies?”

  Mason leaned down and kissed her forehead with a smile. “Dani, as turned on as you make me, I will never fuck ‘like a puppy’.” Then, seemingly out of nowhere, his eyes flashed orange for a moment and he let go of her hand.

  Dani frowned and reached for him. “Did I upset you?” she asked quickly. He had moved away from the tub and she was confused.

  “No,” he stated simply before rolling his neck on his shoulders and turning back towards her. His eyes were back to the chocolate brown that she loved to look into and he sat down on the loveseat. “It was not anger, Dani, but I admit that it is becoming harder to touch you without doing more than that.”

  Dani sunk down deeper into the tub. She was frustrated because she felt the pull every time he was around her. She just wanted to throw herself on top of him and be his. What would it take for her to just admit that? What would it take for him to just claim her whether or not she was ready to ask for it?

  * * *

  Dani had been sitting quietly in the tub for nearly ten minutes while Mason paced back and forth around the bathroom, stopping periodically to look at her. He was clearly agitated, but neither of them knew what to say next.

  Then, without warning, the door swung open and Dani jumped up from the tub in surprise.

  Phil, realizing too late that it was Dani in the tub and not Mason, took several steps back. Something had him on edge, Dani was sure, or he would not have burst in without knocking. “I’m sorry, Dani, I should have knocked,” he apologized quickly, and then turned to Mason.