Bride to the Alpha (The Wolf's Pet Book Two)

by Aubrey Rose

  BRIDE TO THE ALPHA

  The Wolf’s Pet Book Two

  by Aubrey Rose

  What would you do to save your pack from war?

  Held captive with the mark of the Scarred Prince’s pack freshly burned onto her neck, Kinaya is as scared as she’s ever been. And things are about to get a whole lot worse.

  It can’t be the Calling. There’s no way that Kinaya would be fated to the greatest enemy of her pack. So why is it that whenever Alekk touches her, it’s like being struck by lightning?

  As the pack marches toward war, Kinaya is struggling to keep her inner Wolf locked inside. Every time Alekk looks at her, she can’t help but think about the dark shadow in her dreams, the one she knows she is fated to. And she can’t help but imagine what would happen if they both lost control…

  From NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling author Aubrey Rose comes a new shifter book that's as wild and hot as anything. This werewolf shifter BBW romance novella is 27,000 words long, has some naughty language, and a lot of naughty sex. Be warned!

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  Follow me on Twitter: @TheAubreyRose

  Copyright 2015 by Aubrey Rose

  First Kindle Edition: February 2015

  ISBN: TBD

  Book 2

  Naked and afraid, I screamed as he burned my skin with the iron brand.

  I screamed and screamed, and did not shift into wolf form even though I wanted to. Even though tears stung my eyes as the white-hot metal seared into the back of my neck. For some reason, he did not want the others in the tent to know my secret: That I was purebred, not human.

  That I could be a wolf, if I wanted to.

  “Ahhh!” I screamed as the pain bore into my neck and turned numb. My nerves had been burned, I realized. And yet, I did not shift.

  Oh, Lord, I wanted to. I wanted to shift so badly. In wolf form, I could handle this pain. As a human, I was weak. I was scared. I was in the middle of an enemy camp, an enemy bent on destroying my whole family, on taking over our territory. And now the one person I knew here was branding me like a head of cattle.

  Alekk pulled away, handing the iron brand back to the soldier. He looked at me without seeing me, his eyes passing over mine without caring. He didn’t even want his sisters to know the truth about me. Why? Why?

  The questions disappeared, replaced by pain. I cried out as the guards pulled me back to my feet. The burning pain spread outward, from my neck out to my shoulders, down my back. Outside the tent, the wind whistled.

  “It’ll be a stormy night tonight,” Alekk said, his body facing away from me. His tone was casual, joking. “This human will keep me warm.”

  “You have strange taste, brother,” the younger sister said, shaking her long black hair behind her shoulders. The older sister did not stop staring at me. She was more cautious. Wary of this human claiming to be a messenger.

  “I’ll use her well, Villa.”

  Now I knew both of their names. Villa. The older one, Sara. I did not know how I would use any of this information, but my brain was too preoccupied with the painful sensations in my body to care overmuch.

  Sara turned away. Her hair was braided, a long black braid that reached her waist. She sat back down in front of the fire.

  “Use her or not, Alekk, but now we need to prepare for war.”

  “Yes,” Alekk said. He waved a hand at me and the guards yanked me away from him.

  I wanted to cry out to him. I wanted answers. What did all of this mean? Why did he want me to keep my true identity a secret?

  Why was I so sure that I should trust him?

  A blast of chilly air hit my naked body outside, and the burning pain in my neck and shoulders fought against the agony of the cold. Rows of tents stretched out through the forest. Soldiers, preparing to fight.

  If I didn’t stop them, they would destroy my pack. But how? How, if I couldn’t even propose a marriage to the Scarred Prince?

  Alekk. The Scarred Prince. It didn’t make any sense to me. More than that, the feeling that I’d gotten when he’d grabbed me by the throat, that feeling of familiarity—

  No. It couldn’t be. I wasn’t Called to him.

  A shiver ran down my spine as the guards stopped in front of one of the tents. The taller one growled at me, his fingers tightening on my upper arm.

  “Don’t try to escape,” he said, leering. “Or we’ll be waiting for you.” There was no doubt what he meant by that. My chest tightened.

  “I didn’t come here to run away,” I said quietly.

  “Good, because there’s no getting away now. Now you’re properly branded, by the Scarred Prince himself.” He grinned.

  “Welcome to the pack.”

  Chapter One

  The older guard shoved me into the tent. Inside, a woman was sitting on a mattress. She looked up as I fell to my knees on the ground in front of her.

  “What’s this, Rikash?” she asked, sniffing at me. Her eyes swept down over my naked body. The first thing I noticed was that she was beautiful, her features almost eerily perfect. Her hair was braided into a dozen intricate patterns and pinned up on top of her head. One of the braids curled down and lay against her neck. She was slender, only slightly muscled, and her collarbone protruded above the low cut of her green dress whose skirts swished around her ankles.

  “New toy for the Scarred Prince,” the guard said. He laughed and gestured toward my naked body. “She walked into camp like this.”

  “Human,” the woman scoffed.

  “You don’t have to be friends. I guess he’ll use her tonight and be done.”

  “She’s branded,” the woman pointed out.

  “Maybe he’ll keep her a few nights.” The guard shrugged. “Once we attack, he’ll have better things to do.”

  She stood and came over. The way she walked was feline, seductive, as though her fingers caressed the air she walked through. She passed by me without even looking down.

  “When will the Prince be back tonight?” she purred, leaning against the guard. His hand caught her hip, his thick calloused fingers pressing deep into her skin. Even though I did not have my wolf senses, there was no denying that the guard was aroused. His pupils dilated and he licked his lips.

  “Later. He’s talking with his sisters.”

  “Still?”

  “There’s a lot of plans to be made,” the guard said, his breath catching as the woman touched his arm. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks.

  “That’s a shame.”

  “Do you want me to keep you company until then?” the guard asked, his eyes predatory.

  “Tsk, tsk,” the woman said, wagging one finger at the guard as she spun away from him. “You know the Prince won’t like that.”

  “But I’d like it. I’d like it very much.”

  “Maybe later, Rikash.”

  “You should prepare this one for the Scarred Prince.”

  “Oh, I will,” the woman said. She smiled evilly, and the pain from the brand pulsed on the back of my neck.

  Prepare me?

  He bowed and pushed the tent flap aside. A blast of chilly air came through the doorway, and then he was gone.

  The woman turned around. Her hands fell to her sides and the seductive expression on her face disappeared.

  “What is your name?” she asked flatly.

  “Kinaya,” I said.

  “What are you doing in this camp?”

  “I’m a messenger.”

  “A messenger?”

  “From Damien of North Firs.”

  Her eyes widened only slightly.

  “What’s your message?” she asked.
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  “That’s only for the Scarred Prince to hear,” I said. I’d already told her enough.

  She laughed at me, a short burst of laughter.

  “Very well,” she said. “I suppose that’s fair. A human messenger…”

  She walked around me, examining my body. She reached out and brushed back my hair to see the brand on my neck. I drew back, then winced as the skin on my neck creased, sending fresh bolts of pain down my back.

  “It's a shame you're human. If you could shift, it would heal more quickly," she said.

  "Mmm," I said. I wouldn’t give up any of my secrets, but especially not that one. Not until I’d had a chance to talk with Alekk. The prince.

  “How did you get into our camp?” she asked.

  “I walked.”

  “Past the guards?”

  I shrugged.

  She knelt down next to me, looking into my eyes for the first time. Her irises were a dark gold, a tawny color that reminded me of falling maple leaves.

  "You don't trust me," she said. It wasn’t a question.

  "You’re supposed to prepare me," I said, eyeing her with suspicion.

  “The worse we are to each other, the easier they go on us,” she explained. “If the guard thinks I’m preparing you for the Prince, he’ll be less likely to want to hurt you himself. More than he already has.”

  Her eyes flickered down to the brand on my neck.

  “You need to be careful with that if you want it to heal properly,” she said. “Come here and I’ll put salve on it.”

  She motioned me over to the pelts and I followed her. I couldn’t trust her. Not yet. But her eyes softened and I wanted to. I wanted to trust someone here. I was desperately alone and scared.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Leah.”

  She sat down behind me and brushed my hair to one side.

  “And you’re… I mean, your job is…” I stumbled over the question, not sure how to ask without offending her.

  “The Prince’s whore?”

  I bit my lip and nodded.

  “There are many of us. But yes, I’m here as an escort to the Prince.”

  At the touch of her fingers, I flinched. The salve, though, felt cool on my burned skin, and she was gentle.

  “There are lots of you here?”

  My heart clenched at the thought of Alekk with her, or with anyone else. Stupid. He was my enemy, my captor. And yet, when I remembered the way my body had reacted at his touch…

  “Not here,” she said, sitting back on her feet. “I’m the only one he took this time. The rest of them are back home.” The way she said home made it sound like a dirty word.

  “You’re his favorite, then?”

  Leah laughed again, her voice ringing out like bells, and touched her hand to her chest absently.

  “I don’t know that he has a favorite. Maybe I’m the favorite this week,” she said.

  "Tell me about him."

  “Yes,” she said. “I should tell you so that you’ll be prepared.”

  Again, prepared. Prepared for what? Something told me I didn’t want to know.

  "He doesn't like to be touched,” Leah said. “Or kissed. Hand jobs and blowjobs sometimes, but most often he fucks you from behind. If you’re not used to it, don’t worry, he’ll take charge."

  I swallowed. "I mean, what's he like?"

  "He's not as bad as half of them," she said. "Not as mean, anyways. Rough, yeah, sure. But he doesn't draw blood needlessly."

  I felt faint. Thinking about Alekk doing any of those things to me made me dizzy. When he’d touched me before, I’d fallen headlong into the most intense sensations of desire, despite knowing that he was the enemy. On one hand, I was terrified to see him again. On the other hand…

  "I've never… done this before,” I said to Leah. She looked at me sympathetically.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s just the same as it is with any guy. You just have to make him think that you want what he has to give you."

  She’d misunderstood. She thought I was scared of the Scarred Prince. And I was, but I was more scared at the thought of having sex, something I’d never come close to with any guy before.

  “Make… make him think…”

  “Make him think he’s the best, the baddest,” Leah said. Her fingers stopped moving on my back, and I heard her put the pot of salve away. “Pretend that you’re enjoying it.”

  "Is everybody here lying?" I asked. “It seems like nothing here is real.”

  “Lies can be real. It depends on the lie.”

  “That’s what you do?”

  "That's how you survive here."

  "I'm not good at lying."

  Leah looked at me from under lidded eyes, her expression tinged with only the slightest worry.

  "Then you’d better get good at it."

  Chapter Two

  Alekk came in as Leah was finishing putting a linen bandage onto the back of my neck. He crossed the tent and gripped me by the neck. I screamed and my scream was cut off by his fingers around my throat.

  And there, at the same time, came a sensation that flashed into my body. A flash of remembrance. As though I knew Alekk from somewhere. Then he dropped his hand and the flash was gone, and I was left gasping for air.

  “Thank you, Leah,” Alekk said. “I won’t be needing you any more tonight.”

  Leah said nothing, only bowed to Alekk. I thought about how long it must have taken her to get ready. She must have spent hours to braid every last strand of her hair so intricately. Yet she took his rejection completely in stride. Dignified. That was the word for it. I hadn’t expected to see a—ah, escort—look so dignified.

  “Thank you,” I whispered as she walked by. She sneered at me, a meaningful look in her eye.

  Right. Don’t act nice. Ever.

  I’d already forgotten what she’d told me. It was hard to adapt to these new rules.

  When she left, Alekk and I were alone in the tent.

  I faced him directly, trying not to shift in my place as the pain from the brand itched. I wanted badly to scratch my shoulders where the burn had spread.

  “You can speak freely now,” he said.

  “Can I?”

  “The guards outside—”

  “I mean, can I really speak freely with you?” I asked softly.

  He stared at me. His blue eyes shimmered in the low light of the lantern.

  “You came here, didn’t you?”

  “As a messenger.” I said the word with emphasis.

  “I know your message.”

  “Do you?”

  “You came here to give yourself to me,” he said. He stepped forward, and my heart beat fast. His scent was powerful even now.

  “Is that why you hurt me?” I asked. “Is that why you think you can strangle me?”

  “I can do what I want with you, Princess,” Alekk said. “And if you didn’t know that was the bargain you struck, then you shouldn’t have come here.”

  We stared at each other. I thought of the feeling of his fingers on my skin, his rough grip choking me. The way it struck thrills across my nerves. The way everything inside my body burned with longing when I felt it. A blush rose on my skin; I felt my cheeks prickling.

  “I came with a proposal,” I said. “I came here to offer myself in marriage. I don’t want this war to—”

  “Never mind that. We’ll tell my sisters later. It’s not the right time.”

  “You’re lying to them,” I said, the question in my voice. I wanted to know why. Alekk, though, only shook his head.

  “Not the right time,” he repeated. “I’m not sure our side is strong enough.”

  “Your side?”

  Alekk looked up at me as though he’d forgotten I was in the room. He frowned, his eyebrows slanting darkly over his brilliant eyes.

  “Our side, Princess. Don’t forget your agreement. You will do what I tell you to do.”

  “When will—”<
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  “Enough about that.”

  He paced back and forth in front of the lanterns. His shadow moved on the walls of the tent. The fabric moved with the wind, and for a moment I thought of Blaise telling a story in front of the campfire.

  “What were you doing when you came into our territory?” I asked, changing the subject only slightly.

  “Delivering a message,” he said. “Just like you are now.”

  “But you’re not a messenger,” I said impatiently. “You’re a prince.”

  “And you’re a princess. Yet here we are.”

  I crossed my arms.

  “Do you accept my proposal?”

  “Tell me the exact terms of your proposal, Princess,” Alekk said. “I’ve decided I want to hear your voice talk to me.”

  He sat back on the pile of pelts, his hands clasped loosely between his legs. I licked my lips and stammered.

  “Well—what we discussed before. Marriage to avoid war.”

  “You want to marry me?”

  His eyes were dancing as he looked at me. I bit my lip. Heat ran through me, but it was not the pain of the brand. It was a different heat, one that swirled between my legs and made my mouth go dry. Was he really my mate? Was I really Called to him? It couldn’t be. I was here as a sacrifice, not for myself.

  “Will you be a good wife for me, little one?”

  He was teasing me like I was a child. But I wasn’t a child.

  “I want to avoid bloodshed,” I said determinedly.

  “So do I,” he said. “That is why I came to your pack as a messenger.”

  I thought about the night in the storage cabin, when I had fed him. His lips, moving against my fingers—

  I shook the memory away.

  “It was dangerous,” I said. “Coming into a neighboring territory to declare war? You could have been killed.”

  I flushed. Here I was, scolding the Scarred Prince like he was a mere messenger. But he didn’t seem offended.

  “Of course.”

  “Then—then why—”

  “Why did I put myself at risk?” His eyebrows lifted. “War is a messy thing, Princess. Messier than you know, even. I will tell you why later. For now, all you need to know is that an alpha must be willing to do anything for his pack.”