Owned By The Alphas: Part Two (4 page)

H
e was
on top of her when he awoke, his cock already hard and throbbing, beckoning him to wake up. He had the human pinned and their bodies moved hungrily together as the room came into focus. He must have become aroused in his sleep, their fiery chemistry drawing him to her without him even being aware. She was awake and moaned beneath him. He felt his stomach clench as his cock lengthened. She writhed, bucking her hips with her legs opened wide. He growled into the tender skin of her neck and worked ravenous lips down until he captured a nipple in his mouth, the suckling of the sharp little crest making her moan louder. His name whispered from her parted lips inflamed him. He lifted her up and knelt on his knees. All thoughts were absent save for this: she was his.

She wrapped her legs around his body, sitting on his lap, her cunt wet and swollen with need. She let her head fall back, and went limp as he held her up, her arms dangling behind her in complete surrender. It thrilled him and he stared at the fullness of her naked breasts, moving so he could enter her, and lifting her voluptuous form with ease. He plunged into her and groaned at how tight she was, how slippery and ready. She cried out, rose up, and wrapped her arms around his neck, lacing her fingers into his hair, whispering his name again. His hands gripped the soft flesh of her hips and he lifted her up and down over and over on his cock, the sheath of it smooth and rock hard. Their moans increased together as they moved, the power of his hips rising again and again, commanding him to go faster, harder, and to penetrate her as deeply as he wanted to. They panted and threw their heads back one after the other, bodies undulating and burning, transporting them into pure physical bliss.

He was about to turn her over when she locked her lips with his, something not often done by his pack lovers. Her tongue slipped into his lips and he opened his mouth on hers, allowing it. She searched and tasted him and his cock throbbed with the frenzied seeking. It was maddening, and soon he responded in kind, lashing his tongue with hers, moving on her mouth with his like it was beautiful clay he could mold and shape. She cried out and he felt the shiver pass through her all the way down. He clasped onto her back with strong hands and held her up beneath her shoulder blades, reaching up with the strength of his legs to hammer her body with everything he had. There was no holding back, no gentleness, and he could feel her overflowing, the heat dripping down his inner thigh as her sex clenched and stunned him with quakes. She pulled away from his lips to scream as the orgasm hit her hard, but he latched his mouth eagerly to hers again and felt her screams vibrating his body from within as they kissed. He groaned and his juices spilled out in great bursts, the jerking of his body driving his mate to hold him more tightly, kissing his neck and biting it. She collapsed on him and he held her, burying his nose in her hair. He loved how she smelled, how the natural scent of her skin felt like home.

When a few moments later, she shivered from the room’s temperature this time, he tucked her under the blankets and lay beside her. His inner clock knew it was still daytime, and he needed to sleep. Pulling her to him, he wrapped his body around hers and drifted off without a word.

T
he soft rise
and fall of his chest told Ali he’d fallen asleep immediately. She listened for a while, lightly caressing his arm, content. It was daytime, she guessed, and her body clock wasn’t set to sleep during this time. She’d already slept for a long time from sheer exhaustion and maybe had whittled away the daylight hours more than she realized, but now she felt rested and after that spectacular sex, very,
very
energized.

Lifting her head to look at the fire, she found even the embers had died out. Only pitch-black darkness surrounded her and she didn’t like it. Since it was set far into the cave, his den received not even a glimmer of natural light. Lying there, she wondered what time it was exactly. How long would it be before he woke again, and what to do with all that time until then? If she went outside, she could see where the sun shone, and from it could gauge how many hours were left before the pack rose with him. Maybe it was almost night; it was possible. But lying here, the not knowing was beginning to get under her skin. She glanced in his direction, remembering what he had said.

You are not to leave without protection. Do you understand?

Well, she couldn’t just lie here all day.

Lifting his arm from where it lay draped heavily across her waist, she quietly and slowly disengaged the rest of her from his hold. She searched the ground and found her sneakers. After blindly running her hands around more, she found her balled-up pelt, but no socks. Sighing, she slipped on her shoes and wrapped the fur around her.

Using her hands to guide her way, she slipped out of the den and down the passageway with plans to hurry back as soon as she felt the sunlight on her face and could see if it had passed the tipping point toward night. As the wall became gray with promised sunlight, her heart opened with eagerness, and she broke into a run.

Rushing out, she squinted against the midday sun and shielded her eyes with one had as she took in the magnificent view. “Wow! Is this really my home? There’s no way!”

To the right of the mountain below there was a valley, trees as far as the eyes could see, save for one shimmering slice cutting through them that must be a river. Her sense of direction was completely out of whack, but if she could see the river from here, it was probably the Tuolumne, from its size. She turned around, looking down the mountain and then up to find they were in fact below the halfway-point between top and bottom. It wasn’t that steep where she stood, but that changed dramatically as the granite structure reached toward the heavens. Snow-covered peaks far above were at ninety-degree angles. Trees grew sparse above their den, but at it and below they were plentiful, some with changing leaves, some with naked branches and many long-needled pines dancing together in the light breeze.

Ali closed her eyes and tilted her head toward the cloudless sky, the sun warming her skin. She grinned and stretched out her arms, wiggling her fingers, inhaling deeply the sweet, crisp smell of pine. Happiness welled inside of her chest. All the tension she’d ever felt in her whole life seemed to fall away in that instant…

“Ali!”

It was like someone hit her in the face, the way her eyes flew open. She swung around to look at the bushes. She knew who it was by his voice and secretly in the deep recesses of her heart, she’d hoped he would be there waiting for her. But now she wanted to run. She’d just made love to Calt. It had been incredible.

So why were her feet walking forward?

“Ali. Turn around. Don’t do this,” she muttered as she walked around the large group of unkempt hedges to meet him.

Jared stood there, waiting for her, naked, with his arms crossed. “I heard that.”

“This is crazy! What are you doing here?” She jerked her chin toward the cave, the entrance not visible from where they hid. “Do you hear anything else?”

He listened with his jaw lifted up. She watched him, wishing she had superior hearing like they all had. It would be so fantastic! He shook his head and his brilliant blue eyes were serious and guarded. “No. They’re not awake yet. I already knew that, but I wanted to check again, for you. So that you felt safe.”

Ali glanced to the ground and kicked a small pebble as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t feel safe, Jared.”

His muscles tensed and his voice lost its whisper. “It’s Red.”

Ali pulled off one of the fragrant leaves from the hedge, remembering how she’d masked his kiss with one. “Sorry. You shouldn’t be here,
Red.
It’s dangerous, and I most definitely should not be talking to you.” Her eyelashes rose and she locked eyes with him, unable to look away again.

“You’re an alpha’s mate. Of course you are safe,” he growled.

The heat of his tone shocked her. “Look, you need to ease up on the attitude.” She lowered her rising voice to a whisper again quickly. “I am hitting walls left and right here so if you want to be my friend, then be one. Help me! Don’t yell at me. I’ve angered enough people just by being here!”

As the plea fell from her tongue, his posture relaxed and the sharpness in his eyes vanished. He held out his hand, palm up, fingers spread. Ali looked at it, avoiding the distraction of his nakedness behind it. “No. I can’t.”

Red smiled and stepped toward her, his brown hair blowing softly in a rising breeze. “What are you saying no to? You don’t know what I’m offering.”

“Okay, what are you offering?”

He stepped one step closer and she took one back. He sighed. “A bath and an explanation…and my friendship.”

All three sounded heavenly enough to perk her ears and curiosity. “There’s a bath near here? C’mon, really?” He nodded. “And you’ll explain to me what’s going on, and where you’ve been all these years.” He nodded again, the light changing in his eyes from amusement to a promise. “And just friends?”

He grinned. “Well, I don’t know if I can promise that one.”

Ali blushed and smiled, dropping her gaze to her sneakers. The dirty, bare skin that peeked out from them felt ridiculous. “I could use a bath.”

“No argument there.” At her shocked expression, he added, “You smell like him, Ali. I can’t stand it.”

She covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God! I do? Of course I do! You’re a friggin’ superhero who can smell and hear things I can’t. What am I doing? Nothing gets past you people!”

Red took a final step and closed the gap. He reached up and pulled her hands away, holding them in his as he leaned down to meet her eye to eye. “What you’re doing is you’re going to spend the day with me. It’s only…” He looked up to the sky, “one-twenty-three. With the early nights, that gives us almost four hours.”

Ali gazed at him, transfixed. “You can tell time down to the minute by looking at the sun?”

He grinned. “No, but you called me a superhero, so I had to keep it up.” She chuckled lightly, but stopped as he turned over her hand and kissed the open palm of it. “I came here hoping you would rise, that you had not yet become used to our nocturnal clock. I have been waiting for you to emerge from that place for a long time. Come with me. Don’t say no! I have great things to show you!”

The words took her breath away. A small nod was all she could give. And upon seeing it, he stepped back, released her hand, and shifted into his wolf before her eyes again. She gasped at the beauty of him, and when the beast’s blue eyes locked on hers, she climbed onto his back and prayed she was doing the right thing. She’d done what other people wanted her to do, her whole life. She wanted to go with him, wanted to find out all the secrets he would share with her of what his life had been like over the years. It would have been impossible to say no, and she hoped very hard that if Calt awoke early and found her gone, he would forgive her.

“I’m ready,” she whispered into the soft fur of his ear.

He lowered his long snout and took off down the mountain, leaping over rocks she mistakenly thought were too large for them to clear. As he raced through trees like they were an obstacle course, she realized he was showing off for her and her heart picked up its pace in a different way. She grinned into the wind as she gripped the loose skin and thick fur around his neck, gripping his body with her legs, her feet pointed back.

The sunlight splashed through every separation of tree branches above, and she laughed as her hair whipped behind her. He headed to the right as the mountain ended, and grass appeared in greater clumps as the valley began, so green it seemed from another world. As he carried her onward, she let out a howl of her own, one that laughter consumed in the end.

Through a grove of Douglas fir, maple and pine trees he ran, until a field of California poppies spread before them like a billowing blanket of bright gold. He slowed to a trot and Ali picked one, the green stem snapping gently in her hand. She held it against his fur as she held on, and he picked up the pace again. He’d slowed for her to have one, and the gesture touched her. She decided to try something, and leaning down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, riding the rest of the way blindly. If trust was something she had to learn, instinct told her Red was a safe place for her to try. As he ran on, sometimes leaping, she was terrified and exhilarated, but then she became very, very calm. All sounds vanished save for his heartbeat…or maybe it was hers. She could not be sure. She kept her eyes closed until he slowed to a gentle stop.

Rising up to sitting, Ali opened her eyes and gasped. There were three pools of water, hot springs that steamed thickly before them. The two in back were quite small but the one nearest could have comfortably accommodated ten people or more. Five boulders of staggering size flanked the pools, covered in thick moss on the sides facing the water. Large rocks, a fourth of the size of the boulders were strewn about in the marshy grass as though a giant had used them as marbles, and then forgot about them. She slid off the wolf and ran toward the largest pool, glancing back to him with the hugest smile.