Owned by the Alpha

by Sam Crescent

  Against his will, his attention slipped back to the audience, scanning as he went. His gaze slid past the crowd near the entrance to the arena. There was a flash of brilliant green that caught his eye, and his gaze locked with the most alluring female he had ever seen.

  Her hair was jet black, falling straight from a central part at the top of her head. He had no idea how long her hair was because the crowd blocked a lot of her from view. Her light mocha-colored skin was flawless, but it was her unusual eyes that caught his attention. And although the color was unique and beyond beautiful, it was the horror and fear he saw shimmering there that held him captive.

  Those stunning, expressive eyes widened as he stared at her, and he watched her mouth move as she yelled for him to “look out”, but he was too caught up in her beauty to comply completely. He did manage to tense and took some of the momentum of the kick that came his way with his arm. He didn’t stop it completely and Demon crumpled to his knees as the boot he took cracked a couple more of his ribs and the pain stole whatever air he had left in his body. He grunted as he fell forward onto his hands, but his gaze remained steady on his mate. He saw the man he hadn’t noticed standing behind her reach up to grip her hair from behind and wrench her head back against his shoulder. Despite the roar of pleasure from the crowd at his misfortune, he was certain he heard her cry out in pain.

  All pain fled beneath the heat of his wrath, and he pushed to his feet. His woman was being mistreated, and nothing and no one was going to keep him from getting to her. Not the crowd, not the damn electric fence, and sure as fuck not the asshole who stood before him with a smirk on his face. His beast bellowed within him as a red haze of rage fell across his vision and Demon gave himself over to its fury.

  Chapter Two

  “Does watching two men fuck each other up get you hot, pet?” Jasper growled in her ear.

  Ana had to fight the urge to flinch away. She knew from experience that wouldn’t end well for her.

  She stood as still as possible, wanting the concrete floor to simply open up below and swallow her whole. She didn’t want to be here. She wasn’t a dominant. Her wolf was as submissive as they come, and standing in a room filled with the scents of dominants and predatory males had her knees buckling with fear. The need to run was hard to resist, but with Jasper pressed against her, she had no hope of escaping.

  Eight months ago, Jasper’s brother Ezra had killed her Alpha and taken the pack as his own. Jasper became their pack Beta. They were both cruel, sadistic sons of bitches and for some reason, despite her submissive nature and the plethora of other female wolves all vying for his attention, Jasper had decided to take Ana as a Beta female hopeful. Ana’s wolf cowered in his presence and she knew her scent filled with fear whenever he was near, but that seemed to only make him more determined to have her for his own.

  “I-I don’t know, Beta. I’ve never been to a cage fight before,” she whispered. Jasper didn’t like it when she didn’t answer his questions. The first time he spoke to her, she couldn’t manage more than a squeak. That had been the first time he’d slapped her, and the shock of it had her crying out. A sound he said was as alluring to him and his wolf as any perfume or scent could be.

  “Then let’s go inside and see if I can’t do something that will get that hot little pussy of yours wet.”

  He pushed into her until she stepped further into the crude arena. It was nothing more than an old wooden warehouse with tiered seating leading down to a circular cage at the center of the room. The walls of the enclosure were halfway to the roof of the three-story building, and two men stood within, stalking each other. The scent of dominance was thick in the air now that she was physically inside the building, but she caught the coppery tinge of blood in the room. Jasper pressed into her again. The sensation of his erection pressed against her ass had her gasping in shock and fear, and that was when she caught it.

  Wrapped within the metallic scent of blood, Ana was struck with the wild scent of man, laden with a strong hint of earth and forest and just a touch of something spicy she struggled to name. It was a scent that called to her and her wolf like nothing else, and it was just as her mother had always told her it would be when she scented her mate. The woman she was and the wolf she could become both recognized the man the Fates had bound her to from the moment she was born. She had always dreamed of finding her mate. Never would she have thought it would be somewhere like here, with Jasper pressed against her like he was.

  Anxiety began to build within her and she knew she was headed toward a full-blown panic attack. She took another deep breath to take comfort from the scent and froze. Her mate was dominant. Alpha dominant. More dominant than any male she had ever encountered. What the hell were the Fates thinking? Why would they pair a male as dominant as that with a wolf so submissive she turned tail and ran from her own damn shadow?

  Jasper pushed her forward again and the crowd parted to allow them a better view of the cage. Ana’s mouth opened on a silent cry of dismay when she caught sight of the two shifters in the center of the ring. Her gaze was drawn immediately to the slightly shorter of the two men who stood on the far side of the cage. He was huge, heavily muscled, with the words angelus mortis tattooed in an intricate cursive font across his chest. He wore the label ‘angel of death’ on his skin. This was what he believed he was. This was her mate. She gasped when he stepped toward his opponent and the two of them began to punch and kick each other with blurring preternatural speed that had the crowd roaring in appreciation.

  By the time the two stepped apart, Ana’s heart was in her throat. When his opponent, a man she knew to be a wolf shifter, seemed to slip, she thought the fight would be over in seconds, but her mate hesitated. A move that saw the wolf take advantage, and come back with a hard punch to her mate’s side. She winced as she imagined she heard his ribs breaking beneath the power of the hit and he dropped to the ground. Ana caught a glimpse of more ink on his back when he rolled back to his feet, but she had no time to catch it in detail before he turned. His stare swept over the crowd methodically.

  His gaze swept passed her and then slammed back until their eyes locked. Ana lost the ability to breathe. Despite the blood and sweat streaming from him, Ana could tell he was gorgeous. His dark-blond hair, lightly stubbled jaw, and piercing brown eyes held her captive and she felt her body soften with arousal at the heat in his stare.

  “Damn, Ana,” Jasper groaned behind her. “These fucking fights do turn you on. I can fucking smell your sweet arousal on the air and it’s driving my wolf fucking crazy.”

  Ana was caught between her body’s visceral reaction to her mate and her disgust and fear of the man behind her. She kept her eyes trained on her mate. She watched in horror as his opponent stepped to the side and whipped his body around in a hard roundhouse kick she knew was aimed again at those same ribs.

  “Look out!” She saw him react a little to her warning and her heart filled with joy for a moment, before it flooded with fear as Jasper yanked her head back with a cruel hand in her hair.

  “Please!” she cried out, lifting both hands to try to hold his wrist against her head, desperately trying to alleviate some of the pain he was inflicting.

  “Please what, Ana?” Jasper snarled.

  “P-please, Beta,” she pleaded, pushing onto her tiptoes trying to ease the pain. “Please, don’t hurt me. I’m sorry.”

  Vaguely, she was aware of the crowd roaring, but Jasper started to drag her backward out of the arena and all her focus turned to him. “You are sorry, Ana, a sorry little bitch that just fucking cost me a goddamn fortune. I had a bundle on that damn wolf. Now, you are going to pay.”

  Ana sobbed as she fell back, still holding onto Jasper’s wrist. She cried out when her lower back slammed into the gravel of the carpark. “I’m sorry. I-I’ll pay you back. Please!”

  Jasper’s laugh was pure evil and had Ana’s skin crawling. “It’s not money I want from you, Ana. I thought you might have been getting turne
d on by the violence, but it was that fucking razorback, wasn’t it? I saw the way he looked at you, and you warned him! Well, fuck that.” Jasper began to drag her through the carpark. Ana could see flames suddenly reaching out through the top of the warehouse and the crowd that had been packed within the building now poured from every exit, the air around them filled with panicked screams.

  “I need to see fear in my women. The dominant females of the pack can never give me that. Like I told you, my wolf and I love it when you cower in fear. The scent of your terror makes me so fucking hard.”

  Ana cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks. She could feel the bite of the gravel tearing into her skin as Jasper continued to drag her toward his truck. Her cries seemed to amuse him and his crew, because all three of them laughed as she continued to beg and whimper. Jasper dragged her over a broken bottle and Ana screamed out in pain.

  “Let my mate go now, and I promise to leave something recognizable about you for your next of kin to identify.”

  Ana’s heart began to beat faster at the voice that came from nowhere, and she shivered as she caught the alluring scent of her male on the air. “You decide to keep dragging her like that then I won’t leave a fucking inch of you unbroken. I will turn you inside fucking out.”

  Despite the increased pain from the change in angle, Ana looked up at the man who stood three feet from her staring at Jasper with deadly intent. His body was tense, his fists were clenched at his sides, and he seemed to be covered in what looked like soot and a whole lot of blood. Not all of it his.

  Her mate had come for her. No doubt she should be thankful. And Ana was sure she would be, if her fear of the man with death shining in his eyes didn’t have her quivering on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

  Chapter Three

  Demon had no clear recollection of how he got out of the cage, or how he came to be standing in the car park three feet from his mate and her tormentor. He had a vague recollection of throwing the wolf over the top of the electric fence, but after that it was a blur. He didn’t really give a fuck how he did it. His focus was completely locked on the wolf with his hands on his mate.

  “You think this submissive bitch is your mate?” the asshole answered, shaking the woman slightly. Demon’s beast grunted in anger at the sight of her wince of pain.

  “Like I said,” Demon said, his voice garbled as his beast pushed forward, “unless you have a desire to inspect your own intestines up close and real fucking personal, you will let. My. Mate. Go.”

  Demon heard the sounds of car doors slamming behind him, but his focus never wavered. He saw his mate glance behind him, and he figured more of this asshole’s friends had just walked up behind him.

  The man who now topped his shit list grinned at him, and Demon saw his fingers tightening in the woman’s hair. “This bitch is part of my pack and therefore she belongs to me.”

  Demon growled when the bastard used his hold on her to pull her to her feet.

  “And I do not share. So, Razorback, I’ll leave you with a few of my men while I take my bitch home.”

  Demon grunted as a chain fell over his head and pulled tight around his neck. He lifted his hands to try to pull the metal away from his windpipe, but he was grabbed by multiple hands from behind, holding him still.

  “No! Don’t hurt him!” his mate cried out and his beast froze at the concern in her tone. When the asshole reached a partially shifted hand to wrap around her throat, everything within him tensed. Demon growled when he watched a steady stream of blood slide down his woman’s neck from where the bastard pressed a shifted claw into her skin.

  “I wouldn’t worry so much about what’s about to happen to the pig.”

  His mate flinched when the prick slid his tongue down the side of her neck, tracking the blood and making obscene sounds of pleasure. “If I were you, I would be more concerned about what I am going to do to you once we get back home.”

  Demon remained still, watching as his mate was dragged into the truck behind them. He could taste her fear in the air, and for that alone, there would be a river of bloodshed this night. But seeing the apology lingering in her eyes and the hopelessness flashing across her expression, he would make sure her tormentor took a long while to die.

  He knew there were five wolf shifters standing behind him, and he flinched as they started to pound on him, taking particular care to hit him where he was already wounded. Demon kept his gaze on the truck until he was dragged to the ground, and they started kicking him. He waited another few moments to ensure the truck was out of view before he swung both legs around in a full circle, moving the wolf pack off him enough so that he could get to his feet.

  “Well, lookie here,” the wolf standing directly in front of him drawled. “The Razorback wants to go a round or three. Where was this fight when the bitch was still here? What’s the matter, pig, you don’t want anyone to see you lose a fight?”

  Demon turned to look at the mouthy wolf, and grinned, embracing the red-hazed bloodlust of his beast. “I don’t want to scare my mate with the reality of the beast she has been bound to. I figured I’d wait until she was out of sight before I let my boar loose on you assholes, and he bathes in your fucking blood.”

  The wolves all frowned. They thought five of them could bring him down? Fuck. No. They should have brought the whole damn pack. When he fought as a man, he was formidable. If they faced his beast, then they’d better pray for a quick death. He was the Razorback Demon, and when it came to being an apex predator, there was no one and nothing higher than he.

  Demon threw his head back with a roar as he gave himself over to his beast. In a flash of white pain, and the shimmer of ecstasy that came with a shift, he embraced the change and became his boar. He made his beast promise he would leave at least one of the fuckers alive enough for Demon to question his mate’s whereabouts before they killed him. Then he slipped back and allowed his animal the destruction he had been denied too long.

  ****

  Ana whimpered and shivered as she crouched in the corner of the concrete bunker she’d been pushed into. The cells were located a distance from the main living quarters for the pack, and Ana had always thought that was so no one would be bothered by the screams. It wasn’t the first time Jasper had put her here since he and Ezra had arrived, but it was probably going to be the last. There was no way he would allow Ana to live now, and if the truth be told, if what he had threatened her with on the drive back to their pack lands came to fruition, she didn’t want to survive it. She would rather drift into the arms of her ancestors.

  She pressed the palm of her left hand to her chest at the pain that had settled there. Dying would mean not seeing Demon again, and her heart ached at the thought. She had heard of the Razorback Demon, of course, but she would never have thought he would be her mate. She had no idea how a mating between one of the most dominant shifters of their time and a submissive wolf could work. All she knew was the thought of not seeing him again left her feeling bereft.

  Ana flinched as the door at the top of the stairs slammed against the concrete wall, and the slow methodical sound of someone descending the stairs had fear spiraling within her. Her heart pounded and her breathing raced as Jasper stepped into view at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Ahhh, there’s my timid little submissive.” His voice made her skin crawl and she bit off a whimper of fear. “Don’t hold back those sweet sounds, Ana. You know how much I love to hear them.” Jasper briefly closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply. “They are almost as big a turn on for me as the sweet aroma of your fear. If only I could bottle that shit. I would make a fucking fortune.”

  Jasper swaggered over to the door of her cell. “I am really looking forward to tonight. I figure by morning I would have fucked you out of my system, and ready to move on. I reckon there won’t be much left of you, but whatever there is, I have promised the boys they can have at it. Especially the group on their way back now. Your mate didn’t put up much of a fight in the end.�
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  “H-he’s dead?” she whispered brokenly.

  “Of course he’s fucking dead.” Jasper sneered. “What the hell did you think was going to happen? One fucking shifter against five of our strongest wolves was not going to end any other way. Hell, perhaps the fucker welcomed death in the end. Maybe he saw what the Fates had destined for him and figured that was a much better option for him.”

  Ana felt tears swell at the thought her mate would rather embrace death than face a future with her. But then again, what did she have to offer him? The slide of metal against metal pulled her from her own thoughts as Jasper slid a key into the lock of her door. She scrambled to her feet as it swung open.

  Jasper stepped inside with an evil grin. “You gonna put up a fight, Ana? God, I hope so. There is nothing I love more than a woman who puts up some resistance. You wanna fight, love, then do it well because I am going to love every fucking minute.”

  Ana made a vow to herself that, submissive or not, she would not stop fighting. She took a steadying breath as Jasper began to stalk toward her. Her wolf whimpered, urging her to run. But there was nowhere to go. When Jasper was close to her, she felt a sudden rare streak of rebellion slam through her and she slapped him as hard as she could with her right hand.

  Jasper’s head whipped to the left and the coppery scent of blood sparked between them. Ana wanted to cheer at the thought she might have hurt him, but when he turned to look at her, Ana saw lust shimmering in his gaze.

  “First blood to you, Ana.” Jasper’s voice was thick with arousal. “But I assure you, the last will be to me!”

  Ana screamed as Jasper lunged forward, wrapping both hands around her throat. Both froze when a low growling sound came from outside. A sound so chilling it had the hair standing up at the back of her neck.