Rise of the Alphas

by Alexis Davie

  “So, what are you going to tell the police?” he asked. “About the attack.”

  “Nothing,” Lila said.

  “Nothing?” Jasper repeated, daring to hope that maybe this would all get to stay quiet after all.

  “No,” Lila said. “I know how these small towns work, Jasper. I would be seen as an outsider making trouble for the townsfolk. Plus, who the hell is going to believe me? You actually saw the bears and even you still don’t believe me.”

  “It’s not that I don’t believe you,” he said. He knew he should be agreeing, trying to convince her it was crazy, but he just couldn’t do that to her. He didn’t want her to think he doubted her. “It’s just, well, you have to admit it sounds pretty far out.”

  “It sounds crazy, you can say it,” Lila said. “I know it does, and believe me, if someone had come to me with that story, I’d have been telling them they needed to get off the drugs.”

  “So, you think it’s at least possible you were mistaken?” Jasper asked gently.

  “No. I know what I saw. I just know there’s no point in talking about it unless I want everyone in the town to think I’ve lost the plot. Now, enough about that. I don’t even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. Tell me something about you. One random fact that no one knows.”

  That threw Jasper and he thought for a moment. He grinned at Lila and beckoned her closer. She leaned over the table and he looked around, making a show of ensuring no one was listening.

  “I know this makes me seem like a psycho or something, but you did ask,” he started.

  He saw Lila frown slightly. He had her right where he wanted her now—on the edge of her seat, worried about what he was going to say.

  “I don’t like chocolate,” he whispered.

  Lila threw her head back and laughed and Jasper thought he could see relief on her face.

  “Oh, you’re definitely a serial killer in the making,” she said, playing along.

  “Your turn,” Jasper prompted. “Tell me something about you.”

  “Well, I do like chocolate, but that’s hardly news, is it? I mean, what sort of strange person doesn’t like chocolate?” Lila laughed, teasing him.

  “Ouch,” Jasper exclaimed, holding his hand to his heart.

  Lila laughed and then she pursed her lips, thinking.

  “Okay, here goes. Something about me. I sing in the shower,” she said.

  “No way,” Jasper said, shaking his head. He sat back and folded his arms. “That’s cheating. That’s not a real secret. Everyone does that. I want a real fact. Something as shocking as mine.”

  “Nothing is that shocking,” Lila giggled. “But okay. A real fact about me. Something you probably wouldn’t guess. When I was seven, I won a beauty pageant.”

  “Why wouldn’t I have guessed that? If you were even half as beautiful then as you are now, how could you not have won?” Jasper said.

  As soon as he said the words, he worried he’d spoken out of turn, but instead of getting angry or worse, laughing at him, Lila blushed slightly and looked down at her lap for a moment before she looked up and smiled at him. For a moment, they gazed into each other’s eyes, both of them lost in the moment. Lila recovered first.

  “Nothing would seem like a surprise after your secret,” she said, laughing.

  Jasper laughed with her, ignoring the voice inside of his head that reminded him he had a much bigger secret than the one he’d told Lila. One he thought she would find much more shocking than him not liking chocolate. He pushed the thought away again.

  They talked some more, openly flirting with each other now, and when the diner closed, they walked out to Lila’s car together.

  “I had a good time tonight,” Jasper said as Lila unlocked the car. “Thanks.”

  “Me too,” Lila said, turning to smile at him.

  “Would you like to come back to my place?” Jasper asked.

  He knew he shouldn’t have said it, but he just wasn’t ready to walk away from Lila. Not yet.

  “You know, if you wanted a lift home, you only had to say that,” Lila said.

  Jasper opened his mouth to protest, to tell Lila that wasn’t why he had asked her to come back to his place, but Lila started to laugh and Jasper realized she had been joking. He found himself laughing along with her as he moved around the car and got in. He gave Lila directions to his place and watched her out of the corner of his eye as she drove them there. He caught her looking back at him enough times to know that she knew exactly why he had invited her back to his place, and that she was feeling the same attraction as he was.

  As Jasper had led Lila into his apartment, he had wanted nothing more than to grab her and kiss her the second the door closed behind them, but something had stopped him. He had been with more than his fair share of women, and he had never told any of them what he really was, and it had never bothered him. With Lila, it was different. The fact that he couldn’t tell her who he really was ate away at him. He had realized with a start it was because Lila was different. When he looked at her, he didn’t see a meaningless fling, a few weeks of fun. He saw his future. He saw Lila by his side for the rest of eternity.

  It was a big feeling, one that he felt should have scared him, but it didn’t. It felt right somehow. Like it wasn’t scary at all.

  Instead of kissing her, he had offered her a drink which she had accepted. They’d sat and drank their drinks, talking and laughing, and now their glasses were empty, and Jasper knew he had a decision to make.

  He could kiss Lila now, make her his. Or he could choose not to kiss her. If he didn’t, he knew his chance would have passed, that she would think he wasn’t interested in her in that way. He couldn’t bear the thought of that.

  He thought again of the pack rules, but this time, he found a loophole. What he wanted with Lila wasn’t just fooling around. He wanted more. He wanted her to be his mate. His rule had always been not to fool around with locals; if one of his pack had come to him and told him he thought he’d found his mate in the town, then he would have relaxed the rules. Wouldn’t he? He told himself he would, and before he could talk himself out of it, he reached out and touched his palm to Lila’s face.

  She smiled at him, nestling against his touch. He leaned forward and rubbed his lips across hers, gently, teasing her. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. Her smile was gone, replaced with a look of such intense lust that Jasper felt his cock hardening just looking into her eyes.

  He leaned in again, and this time, there was nothing gentle or teasing about his kiss. He kissed Lila with everything he had, mashing his lips against hers, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She didn’t hold back any more than he did. She kissed him back almost ferociously, reaching out for him and pulling him against her.

  She pushed herself up off the couch, still kissing him, and straddled him. He swept his hands beneath her top, running them over the smooth skin of her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him hungrily.

  Jasper’s heart was racing, his cock screaming at him to claim Lila. He pulled his mouth away from hers long enough to pull her top over her head and throw it to the ground. Their lips met again, coming back to each other like they had always been this way.

  He unhooked her bra as they kissed, moving his hands to the front of her body and kneading her breasts. She moaned into his mouth as he rubbed her nipples between his fingers, bringing them to hard little points.

  He moved his hands around to her back, bringing them lower and cupping her ass in his hands. He stood up, holding Lila against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and still kissing her, he began to walk toward the bedroom.

  Jasper pulled his lips from Lila’s long enough to find the door handle to his bedroom in the dark. He pushed the door open and carried Lila to his bed. He pulled the duvet back and laid her on the sheet, climbing onto the bed beside her. The rest of their clothes came off in a flurry of gasping and tearing. Their kisses grew yet more passionate as their
hands caressed each other’s bodies.

  When they were both naked, Jasper pushed Lila onto her back and knelt between her legs. He wanted to thrust his cock inside of her so badly, but first, he wanted to taste her. He wanted to drink her in, to claim her center with his tongue like he had her mouth.

  He put his hands on her inner thighs, pushing them roughly apart until she was spread wide open, her wetness glistening in the moonlight that streamed in the window. Jasper lay on his front between Lila’s legs, breathing in the scent of her. He felt his bear shifting within him, growling, hungry, lustful. He pushed it back, not wanting it to break out right now. He wanted to taste Lila as a man, to take her as a man. He told himself it had nothing to do with the fact that he didn’t want Lila to know what he was.

  He pushed his tongue against her clit, his cock pulsing as she moaned his name. He moved his tongue in slow, almost lazy circles, teasing Lila. She moaned again and she shuffled lower on the bed, pressing her clit more firmly against his tongue. He smiled to himself. She was as desperate for this as he was.

  He began to work her clit, his touch firm, his tongue moving from side to side. Lila writhed beneath him, her breath coming in ragged pants, a series of low moans leaving her lips. He slipped his fingers into her opening, moving them in time with his licking.

  Lila’s moaning turned into a frantic whimper as he found her g-spot. He worked it in time with her most sensitive spot. She writhed and moaned, her hands running over his head and then falling back to her sides as she came hard. He felt her center clench around his fingers as her clit pulsed against his tongue.

  She took in a big breath and held it as her orgasm spread through her body, and then let out the held breath in a fierce exhale. She panted, trying to get herself back under control. Jasper wasn’t ready to let that happen. He wanted to make her come undone, to show her how good her body could feel.

  He lifted his face away from her between her legs and got to his knees. He licked up her glistening stomach, tasting the salt of the sweat that coated her body. He reached her breasts and ran his tongue over first one nipple and then the other. Lila clutched at his back, her hands moving up and down. She pulled at him, dragging him up toward her mouth and Jasper let her move him.

  Their mouths came back together and Jasper heard himself moaning, felt his bear stirring again, as Lila pushed her hand between them and stroked her fist up and down the length of his erection. Her touch made fire explode through him, and it felt so good, he almost let her go on, but he didn’t want to come now. He wanted to come inside of her, to mark her as his own.

  He gently pulled her hand away from him, regretting it the second he lost her touch. He held her body tightly to his and rolled over, pulling Lila with him. She lay on top of him, kissing him, her body pressed against his. He could feel her hard nipples against his chest, the heat from her center on his manhood. She pulled her mouth away from his and pushed herself up so she was straddling him again.

  She moved her hips, lifting him into her. He gasped as he entered her, her tight core sucking him right in.

  Lila began to move up and down, making him moan. He closed his eyes, trying to get used to the sensation and hold back his orgasm. He didn’t want this to be over so soon. Lila moved slowly, teasing him, making him feel her along his whole length. He stood the sweet torment for as long as he could.

  When he couldn’t take it anymore, he reached out and put his hands on Lila’s hips. He began to thrust, moving his hands in time with his movements, moving Lila faster. He gave a sound that was half a moan and half a growl, half human and half bear. Lila was in the throes of her own orgasm by then, and her own moans drowned out the noise, saving him from revealing himself to her.

  He pumped faster into her as she tightened around his cock, holding him so tightly it was almost painful. He pumped again and he felt his orgasm flood his body. There was no holding back this time. He came, and he came hard, his whole body tensing up as fire assaulted his senses. He sucked in a breath that burned his throat and it came out in a rush, Lila’s name tumbling over his lips as he spurted into her, claiming her, marking her with his scent.

  Lila moved away from him, coming to lie beside him. They lay together, panting in the darkness. Jasper could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to get himself back under control. He had never come like that before, never had an orgasm that he felt in his whole body like that. It was as though Lila’s touch had awakened a whole new side to him, a side that he was keen to explore further.

  He rolled onto his side and pulled Lila to him, holding her in his arms. He could feel her body trembling and he thought, hoped, that he had had a similar effect on her. He held her against him as his pulse slowly returned to normal, as his breathing became less of an effort, and even when he had himself back under control, he didn’t release his hold on Lila. He never wanted to let her go.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing felt right. He didn’t have the words to describe the way she made him feel. In the end, he let his hold on her do the talking. She wrapped her arm around his waist, holding him as tightly as he held her, and in that moment, Jasper knew that she was feeling it too. This bond they now shared was something neither of them could put into words, but it was definitely something that they both felt.

  As his eyes began to close, he floated down toward sleep, thinking only of how amazing Lila felt in his arms, not letting himself think of tomorrow, and how she might react when he told her who he really was. Or more accurately, what he really was.

  6

  The sun was just starting to rise when Lila woke up. She knew instantly where she was. She was in Jasper’s bed, lying beside the man who had rocked her world last night. Her body felt raw, but thinking of last night made her instantly wet again, and she knew she could ignore the tenderness if it meant she got to have Jasper again.

  As she came fully awake, she was aware of Jasper snoring quietly next to her. She was lying on her side, her head on Jasper’s chest, his arm around her shoulders. Her arm was draped over his stomach, moving up and down slowly with his breaths. She smiled as she listened to him snoring. She wasn’t surprised he had fallen into such a deep sleep. She had done the same thing herself, their lovemaking leaving them both exhausted.

  Lila paused for a moment. Lovemaking? Is that what last night was? She knew in her heart it was. She had felt something with Jasper she hadn’t felt with anyone before. What they had done had been much more than just fucking. They had a bond, a bond Lila couldn’t explain. She didn’t need to explain it. She only needed to feel it again.

  She pushed herself up onto her elbow. Jasper stirred slightly when his arm fell away from her, but he didn’t wake up. Lila smiled to herself. She knew exactly how she wanted to wake him up. She shuffled down the bed, throwing the duvet to one side. She felt herself getting wetter as she took in Jasper’s amazing body.

  She got onto her knees and straddled Jasper, leaning forward and running her tongue down his neck and over his chest. She moved lower, stroking her tongue over his stomach. His snore became a moan of desire and she felt his hands moving over her back. She looked up at him. His face was still sleepy and he gave her a lopsided smile. She smiled back and then she shuffled further down his body, coming to kneel between his legs.

  His cock was already hard when she took it in her fist and kissed the top of it. Jasper moaned again as she sucked him into her mouth. She ran her tongue down his length, tasting him, taking him into the back of her throat. She came back up slowly, teasing him with the tip of her tongue, loving the way he moaned at her touch. She began to bob her head up and down, sucking him hard and fast. His hips moved in time with her sucking, forcing him further into her mouth. She resisted the urge to gag, loving that Jasper filled her mouth so completely.

  He reached down and ran his fingers through her hair as she worked him. She kept sucking him, licking him, until his breathing became ragged and she knew he was on the verge of coming. She lif
ted her head and looked him in the eye, licking her lips. He moaned again, a sound so full of longing that it made her pussy clench.

  Jasper sat up and reached for Lila. She leaned forward, meeting him as he groped for her and pulled her into his arms. His lips met hers and she lost herself in his passionate kiss. He wrapped his arm around her waist and laid her gently on her back, still kissing her. He moved with her, his weight pressing down on top of her.

  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. He kissed down her neck and across her collar bone, making her skin tingle. He lifted his hips slightly and reached down with one hand, pushing his fingers into her wet lips and finding her clit.

  She sucked in a breath, clinging to him as her tender clit throbbed beneath his touch. It was both ecstasy and agony, a torment and a relief. He brought her to the edge of her orgasm and then he moved his hand back, running his fingers through her slit. His hand moved away and then his cock was pushing its way into her core.

  She bit down on her bottom lip as Jasper slammed into her, making her sting as she opened up for him. He ran his hand over her ass and up the back of her thigh, lifting her leg and hooking it over his shoulder, opening her up even further. She moaned as he began to thrust into her.

  She moved with him, meeting each thrust with desperate thrusts of her own. The stinging sensation began to fade, leaving behind only pleasure. Lila already knew it would hurt her to even walk for the rest of the day, but she didn’t care. She reached down, pushing her hands against Jasper’s ass, urging him into her even deeper.

  She cried out as she hit her climax, a delicious warmth spreading between her legs, up into her stomach and then fanning out across her whole body. Her back arched, her muscles taut as pleasure seeped through her. She clung to Jasper, calling his name as her center clenched around his cock.

  He upped his pace, his short, hard thrusts rocking her body. He looked into her eyes as he came, and she saw the tenderness in his gaze. She knew then she hadn’t imagined the connection between them. Jasper felt it too.