No Alpha, page 8
part #1 of The Alpha Brothers Series
"Dammit. I can't wait," Letric suddenly says and removes his hand, flipping me onto my stomach. I go onto my knees as he pulls my hips back, lining himself up in a position I haven't done before. I cry out as he slides inside me, filling me up and feeling incredible. Letric holds onto my hips tightly as he slams in and out of me, every slam drawing me close to the edge. I love this position—or Letric's cock, I'm not sure which, but damn I want to do this all night. I cry out as he slams harder and I tip over the edge, riding out my orgasm as I scream his name. Letric growls loudly as he comes deep inside me a few thrusts later, and it feels incredible. I fall to the bed, breathing heavily with him as he falls next to me and pulls me into his arms. I rest my head on his chest, hearing his loud heartbeat under my ear, and a strange warm feeling spreads in my heart.
"You are trouble, El. So much trouble, and I tell you what," he whispers to me.
"What?" I whisper back, looking up to see him staring down at me as he talks.
"Don’t ever stop. I like a little trouble in my life. So do my brothers."
Chapter 18
Elodie
“I’m no good at this!” I frustratedly exclaim, lowering my bow after another one of my arrows misses my target all together, hitting the bush behind it instead. That damn bush must be full of arrows at this point. Letric had this smart idea that I should learn how to use some weapons, especially because I cannot shift. I look over at him as he pulls his own arrow back on his bow, seeing the way his muscles strain and his eyes narrow as he aims. He lets the arrow go, and it powerfully shoots off. I look over to see the arrow land dead in the center of his target, just like his four arrows around it did.
“It takes time to learn control. Why don’t we try some basic defensive training?” he asks, coming over and taking my bow out of my hands.
“At this point, it may be our only hope,” I overdramatically say, and he laughs as he clips the bows back on the metal holders before sliding his hand in mine. We walk out of the large room full of targets, through two doors, and down a hall until we get to a smaller room. This one has mats on the floor and white walls. The door slides shut behind us as Letric slowly peels his shirt off his body, and I gulp at all the toned, lickable abs on show.
“Don’t you think not wearing a shirt is a distraction?” I ask, licking my dry lips as Letric curls a finger at me, telling me to come closer.
“It’s hot in here,” he says with a grin. “You could lose yours, if you wish.” I look down at the loose grey shirt I am wearing which is tucked into trousers. Mary helped me find suitable clothes after Letric explained I couldn’t wear a dress to train. It wouldn’t work, and I actually like these clothes more than I thought I would. I wonder if I can avoid wearing the dresses all together and stick to these?
“I’ll keep mine on, thank you,” I reply, and he only laughs as he stretches his arms above his head, no doubt teasing me more.
“Right then,” he finally says, leaving his arms at his side. “If someone was to run at you, what would you do?”
“Run away?” I almost sarcastically reply, and I can see he is trying not to laugh as he answers me.
“You know better than to run from our kind. No, you stay still. Don’t move, not until the very last moment, and then jump to the side. Most people won’t expect that, they would expect you to run,” he tells me. I guess it makes sense in a strange way. I don’t know if I could fight that natural instinct to run, but it’s worth a shot.
“Would that work if a wolf was running at me?” I ask, curious. My question seems to make him pause.
“No, our wolves are too fast. Too intelligent. I can’t train you to fight wolves without weapons when you can’t shift,” he tells me and starts walking back. “Right, let’s try out this idea. Remember, hold your ground and then move. Also, if you don’t move, tuck your head in and let your body roll as you land. It will hurt a lot less than if you try to fight the landing.”
“Got it,” I say, feeling more than a little nervous now as Letric stops and then runs at full speed towards me. Even though I have a feeling he will not hurt me, that he would catch me if I fell, it is still frightening to see an alpha like Letric running at you. When he gets close enough, I jump to the side and scream as I trip over my own feet, slamming my face onto the floor when I land. Thank god the floor is soft. I roll over as Letric stands over me, his hands on his hips.
“Well, you did it…then tripped over yourself. I don’t think either of us won that attempt,” he says, offering me a hand and pulling me up. I laugh as he pulls me up, and I wrap my arms around his shoulders.
“I’m not good at this,” I say. “I don’t think I was born to be a fighter, Letric.”
“Yeah, you were. You fight everything, every day. It’s who you are,” he says, leaning down and slowly kissing me as his hands slide into my hair. The sweet kiss ends all too soon as he pulls away. “We have all the time in the world to teach you to fight. I’m not worried anyways.”
“Why?” I ask, running a finger down his neck, finding his pulse under the pad of my finger tip and feeling his fast beating pulse.
“El, no matter what, I would always defend you. You don’t need to learn how to fight when you belong to us,” he says. Letric is the master of sweet words that lull my mind and soul into a false sense of security. I know he doesn’t mean to trick me or lie to me, but nonetheless, I cannot trust his words.
“Yes, but this is temporary, Letric,” I remind him. No matter the time we spend together, the nights in his bed, Alaric and Alpha will never accept me in their lives permanently. I doubt it is what Letric really wants anyways.
“Your stay in our pack is not, but I don’t want to discuss the future. I want to live in this moment,” he says, kissing me once more before letting me go. I think over his words as he walks away, going back a similar distance as before. I guess I will always have their protection in a way because they will let me live in the pack. I’ve never thought much on how awkward that will be for me. I will be stuck watching them take other women, seeing them around. I know it’s better than a life as a slave, but it makes me want to guard my heart all the more. I know if I started loving the Alpha Brothers, then living in the pack when we are over would be a new form of hell. “This time don’t trip, sweet El,” Letric says before running at me again, and I can’t help but smile. I might not have forever with them, but I can enjoy the now.
Chapter 19
Elodie
“I love that song,” Annie says, yawning loudly around her words as I finish singing and tucking her pink blanket around her. I don’t know about Annie, but I am exhausted from chasing her around the pack on our day together. Annie’s new parents said she has had trouble sleeping, and they wondered if a few hours with me would help. It seems to have done. I know Annie misses her old pack, even if they did treat her as nothing more than a responsibility to pass around. I glance around her room, seeing the teddy bears, toys, fluffy rug, and I know for certain she is loved here. I can see in her parents’ eyes anyways.
“Thank you for inviting me to sing for you before bedtime,” I say, knowing she didn’t exactly invite me when I dropped her off at home; it was more of a demand. Though her parents made me dinner, told me some funny stories, and it has been a good night. I hope the Alpha Brothers aren’t too bothered by me disappearing tonight. I did tell Alpha where I was going today when I left his tower this morning.
“You are so pretty, Lodie. I want to look like you when I am bigger,” she says, yawning once again.
“Ah that’s funny, I want to be just like you, Annie,” I reply, and she giggles. I slowly hum the song under my breath until she drifts off to sleep, looking peaceful. I blow out the candle by the side of her bed and walk out of her room into the corridor, slowly closing the door. I walk down the stairs and see Vanessa in the living room, looking into the fire. She turns when a floor board creaks under my foot and smiles widely at me.
“Is she sleeping?” she asks.
“Yes,” I reply, crossing my arms as Vanessa looks back into the fire.
“I’ve always wanted children. Always. It took many years for me to realize that I could not conceive. I was heartbroken, lost almost. See, I came from a big family in the Xan Pack. I had three brothers and four sisters, and I grew up helping my parents care for them,” she tells me, surprising me a little. I know it’s rare for female wolves to have more than two children. I remember when a woman found out she was pregnant with her third child in my old pack. It was talked about for weeks, and the baby was given dozens of gifts. The alpha even gave me as a gift to help around the house for a few weeks. Though I always suspected there was more to that whole situation than anyone said. The alpha visited the baby and mother once a week, always at the same time, and they would make me leave the house with the other children while he was there. It was always when her mate had guard duty.
“Are they in this pack now?” I question, pushing my thoughts aside because surely one of those siblings have children so she could have at least been an aunt before Annie turned up. Or they could be here now to help with Annie, maybe offer advice.
“No, they are all dead. The Xan alpha murdered them all because I told him I would not sleep with him willingly. I love my mate and never wanted anyone else. The alpha killed my entire family before tying my mate up and making him watch as the alpha took what he wanted,” she says, her voice cold, and yet there is so much fear in it as my heart breaks for her. I drop my arms and walk over to her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders, and she embraces me back. We are silent for a long time as I feel her silent tears drop onto my shoulder. The Xan alpha is a cruel, terrible man. No wonder Alpha wants to destroy his pack. No one should be allowed to get away with what that man has done.
“How did you get here? Both of you?” I ask when I eventually pull away, and she wipes at her eyes.
“Someone helped us escape about a week later. We ran here where we were finally safe,” she says. “There are good people in the Xan Pack, ones who hide right under the alpha’s nose and help people.”
“Annie is lucky to have you,” I comment, meaning every word. “She was never loved in my old pack.”
“I want to be the best parent I can be, but I feel like I am failing. She doesn’t sleep, she pushes me away when I try to comfort her. I am clueless on how to be a mother,” she admits. I could have guessed that. She looks so nervous around Annie, frightened that she will say the wrong thing. I’m no parent, or anyone to judge anyone else, but I know Vanessa is a good person.
“You know none of that matters, right?” I tell her, and she gives me a confused look. “The only part that truly matters is that you are trying. That you are not giving up. Everyone eventually gave up on Annie, and it was only me that always welcomed her back when people who were meant to care for her got bored. She needs you, and in time, those little problems will fade when she realizes you love her and will always be there. That is what family is about, being there no matter what.”
“Thank you. You are so smart for a woman so young,” she says, patting my shoulder gently as the door opens and her mate walks in, holding a basket and looking panicked.
“Is everything okay? I felt—”
“Everything is perfect,” Vanessa interjects, and I smile at her as she wipes her eyes.
“It’s time for me to go back. I will come back anytime you need,” I say, and Vanessa nods her head as I walk across the room.
“You are welcome here anytime. I mean that. Our home is yours,” Vanessa tells me as I open the door.
“Thank you. Have a good night,” I reply, and she smiles, bowing her head before I walk out into the quiet night. I walk down past the houses and into the empty courtyard, looking up at the clock tower for a moment as a cold gust of wind blows my hair around.
“Elodie,” Alpha’s deep voice almost makes me jump in surprise as I turn to see him walk out of the shadows of the houses and up to me.
“Alpha,” I reply, tilting my head to the side as he stops in front of me and brushes my hair over my shoulder.
“Did you have a good night with the child?” he asks, resting his hands on my shoulders as I look up at him.
“Yes. Did you have a good night?” I ask him, and he doesn’t say a word, his dark expression saying everything anyways.
“Being the alpha means I have to make cruel and somewhat harsh decisions at times. I care little for the killing, for the hunt, but at times, it is hard to rule,” he says, pulling his eyes from me. “Come, I want to show you something.” I don’t get to reply to Alpha as he slides an arm around my waist, pulling me to his side as he leads me down the alleyway next to the houses and towards a part of the beach I’ve only ridden past.
“What decision did you have to make today?” I ask.
“A female wolf has died in labor last night. Her mate and her grandmother both wanted custody of the baby. The grandmother claimed the mate couldn’t look after a baby alone and never loved her daughter. The mate told us that he would be good father,” he gruffly tells me.
“So, what happened?” I ask as we get onto the sand.
“The grandmother tried to kill the mate, and he lost an eye before people intervened. They both came to the court, where I found the grandmother guilty, and I killed her. We have a zero-bullshit policy on attacks in the pack. We have a court of thirty wolves and three alphas to make sure that no one feels the need to take another’s life,” he explains.
“Was it hard for you to kill her?” I ask him as we stop on the sand, and Alpha leans down, picking up a large rock by his foot.
“Yes. I do not like killing my own people for matters like this. I have to see the bigger picture,” he tells me before swinging his arm back and chucking the stone into the sea. Suddenly the sea lights up green before the little green lights fly up in the sky, swirling around and disappearing.
“What are those?” I ask as Alpha picks up another stone and this time hands it to me before finding another.
“Fire flies that live in the sea. They only come to our shores a few nights a year,” he explains, throwing another stone in, and we watch the fire flies fly. “The first night we came here, these fire flies led us through the dark water to our home.”
“Thank you for showing me them,” I say, knowing this is a big thing for Alpha. I know him well enough to understand talking about his past and sharing things with anyone that isn’t his brothers is difficult.
“I’m not an easy person to live with. My life demanded so much of me that I only found pleasure in things I could not have. My brothers are my constant in my life, but that does make me clouded in my judgement of what is right. I do not know everything, and feelings are something I struggle to make judgement on,” he admits to me.
“I think you made the right decision with the grandmother. Though, even if you did not, you are only one person. Making the right decisions seems impossible to do at all times. Sometimes you just have to do what you think is right and hope for the best,” I say and, lifting my arm back, chuck the heavy stone in the water, though mine doesn’t go as far or make as many fire flies light up the sky. Even if I’m just a pebble next to a stone, it helps that I can still make waves.
Chapter 20
Elodie
“Alpha told me you like to read,” Alaric muses, looking away from me at something else as he talks. I smooth a hand over my dress, which is still a little damp from this morning where it got wet from the sea.
“Did he now?” I chuckle as we walk back through the market, and instead of heading home like I suspected we would do after a long day at the beach together, Alaric leads me past two stalls and to a building with only one door and no windows on it.
“Well, do you like to read?” he asks again as I avoided his answer.
“Yes, but not the books Alpha has in his home. They are books on war, weapons and ancient times. I like books on fantasy, romance and forbidden stories,” I explain to him, and he grins.
“Oh, you are going to love this,” Alaric says, smiling like a kid in a candy shop as he pulls me towards the door by my hand. I run with him and wait as he pushes the door open and lets me walk in first. My eyes widen at the giant room inside with the open floors so you can see all the way up to the top floor. Every wall has a bookcase filled with books. There are rows of bookcases back to back, giving the room a grand feeling. Right in front of us is an older lady sat on a chair at a table, sorting books into piles.
“Trouble is back again, it seems,” the woman comments, and Alaric laughs.
“No trouble this time. I have the lovely Elodie to keep me in line,” Alaric teases, sliding an arm around my waist and moving me past the woman into the room. The woman only huffs, going back to her books as I wonder what that was all about.
“The forbidden books are on the top floor,” Alaric explains, making me wonder if he reads them too, and walks us past the people sat at tables in the middle of the room. We go to the start of the staircase that goes all the way up and walk past four floors where some people are reading or searching for books until we get to the top floor. We don’t see anyone as we walk a few rows until I stop and walk down the one with the most books in it.
“Where did you get all these books from?” I ask.
