Chapter 3 #2
A rustling sounds behind me and I focus on the pine trees, following their lines until they reach the sky. They climb up the mountain and fade into the distance, leaving me with the sense that I’m insignificant in comparison to everything surrounding me.
Cole moves away from me and I ignore the suggestion he makes through the pack bond that I join him.
“Luke?”
He sounds unimpressed. His tone is scathing and he doesn’t understand why I refusing to turn around. In truth, I’ve been trying to avoid this moment for the past few days, but the wretched girl we abducted from Bastan is yet again taking matters into her own hands and riding roughshod over me.
I drop my head, resigned, and turn.
She’s moving.
Her fingers flex and her arms curl up, drawing against her chest. Her tits press together as she clings to herself and I dart my eyes to her legs, watching them stretch and pretending not to notice just how toned they are.
She lifts her head, and Cole and I inhale in unison.
I sigh and step closer to the girl.
She’s so small. So tiny. So fragile.
Maybe that’s why I want to sweep her up in my arms and make damn sure that no one else has her. I want to be the only one who claims her mouth and her laughter, her cunt and her screams.
It’s disgusting and I promise myself that I won’t let anything this weak affect me. I’ve got too many responsibilities and there’s too much at stake to let something destabilize the pack. Her presence is a problem and the only reason I’m tolerating it is because the Elders are an even bigger one.
She moans and I hate it.
It’s a sound that saps the joy from the room and my soul. I almost flinch when she moans a second time and I take another few steps closer, far too agitated to let this continue. If I had a stick to hand, I’d prod her with it, but I don’t and so I grimace as my hand reaches for her.
Hers flies out and slaps mine away, and her eyes flick open, glaring at me with a look of pure hatred through her daze. She’s struggling to focus but is as full of venom as her father, and the silver shining through the blue-grey in her irises is a flash of defiance that I do not like.
“You’re awake.”
Her lips turn inward and curl into a vicious smile. “You’re a moron.”
Lawson isn’t sure what to make of her challenge.
He’s as irritated by her audacity as I am, but there’s a spark of admiration too.
It’s almost as if he’s wondering if she could be more than meets the eye, but the asshole has decided to keep anything more to himself, concealing his deeper thoughts from me.
It’s an unusual move and one I resent, but he doesn’t give a shit and ignores my protests.
“Ask her a question.”
“Do you want a drink?” I ask.
The girl shakes her head and I’m certain she’d spit in my face if she was given the opportunity.
“Ask her something else. Try to be charming.”
This is tedious and I’m rapidly losing my shit. I stare at the girl lying on the mattress beneath me, wondering what she’d consider charming at a moment like this. I can’t imagine anything less appealing than waking in a strange bed after being kidnapped.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
Her eyebrows rise and her mouth falls open—and then she throws her head back and laughs. It’s derisory and as scathing as any insult, maybe more so given the contempt in her cackle.
She pulls herself upright and shuffles up the bed.
“You don’t expect me to fall for that?” She adjusts herself and rests against the headboard. “There’s not a chance you went to the effort of orchestrating a carefully planned attack without knowing my name.”
My jaw clicks.
She’s got a point.
But I’ve got a way to score one of my own.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I say, smirking as her triumphant grin falls. “At least you know you’ll be better off if you don’t fuck around with me.”
She swallows. “You’re not from the pack we’re at war with. It’s considered good manners to introduce yourself.”
I should be curt and point out she passed up the opportunity to afford me the courtesy she’s demanding from me. I’m tempted to score another cheap point but Lawson growls and it would be anything but charming.
“Luke.” I tip my head to my right. “This is Cole. My Beta. You met for long enough for you to throw a punch at him.”
Some of the remaining color in her complexion fades from her face. She’s quick enough to realize that I’m an Alpha and her agile mind has caught Lawson’s interest.
“Nia,” she mumbles, looking at my second.
Cole nods and smiles, acknowledging the introduction she refused to give me.
She’s insulted me in every way that matters and Cole’s pushing his calm towards me through the pack bond.
The rest of the pack can sense my irritation too and they’re already on edge.
A riled Alpha is a dangerous beast and I’m more of a threat than most. This is getting out of hand and I’m ready to lose my shit with the ungrateful bitch.
Nia’s gaze turns back to me and she looks me up and down. Her stare is slow and lingering, paying attention to the outline of my muscles and the contours of my well-honed body. She’s looking in all the right places and yet she isn’t responding in the way women typically do when they see me.
I exhale, relieved we’re finally getting somewhere. The girl is realizing her place and soon she’ll succumb to her arousal. Soon, she’ll start acting like all the other women I’ve shown any interest in and, if I’m lucky, she’ll be throwing herself at me in a matter of days.
My head tilts a little as she sits, entirely content to wait for me, unaffected by the silence that pressures most into talking.
Nia isn’t flushed and her lips haven’t parted.
Her heart rate hasn’t accelerated and her temperature hasn’t risen.
She’s neither afraid nor aroused, completely unfazed by my presence.
It’s almost impressive.
Unfortunately for Nia, it isn’t going to save her.
The tension between us is thick and heavy, weighing down on us and she remains unmoved until finally something breaks.
“Told you she’ll be fun to play with.”
Lawson’s right. Nia’s a puzzle and I’m looking forward to fucking around with her, in every way possible.
She doesn’t seem like the completely submissive, weak plaything suggested by her wolf’s absence.
There’s too much fire in those pale blue eyes that try to lure you into their warm, gentle waters so they can drown you—but her wolf is conspicuously absent.
There’s not even a trace of her wolf. There’s no snarl or snap. No rush of anger that surges through her, nor any flash of rage. There’s no outburst. Nia doesn’t bare her teeth and there’s no threat to transform. Her scent remains completely absent and yet it ought to have changed.
I’ve never seen control like it.
She’s far too weak to have this much control but it’s the only explanation for the impressive display she’s putting on.
She has a wolf. I’m certain of it. Not just because of what happened that day but because of the way she’s looking at me now.
The way her aquamarine and silver irises stare at me like I’m beneath her.
It’s the way her father looked at my father. The way he looked at me. It’s contemptible and it irks me. It fucking riles me. It makes me want to scratch those pretty eyes out if only to stop them looking at me in the way they are right now.
“Let’s play with her then, Lawson.”
My wolf howls with delight and Nia pulls back, reacting to the change in my demeanor. She flinches and her fingers cling to the sheets beneath her. She’s afraid and her wolf ought to rise, but it denies me again and it makes my temper flare.
“I’ll let you settle in.”
Cole’s eyebrow arches higher than I’ve ever seen it go and he takes a few steps toward the door. Nia’s eyes flick between us, tracking his movements but keeping an eye on me. I’m the greater threat and there’s not a chance she’s going to give me a goddamn inch of room to maneuver.
I step backward and she exhales.
I conceal my smirk, aware she’s given away just how scared she is. It’s good. It’s useful. It’s a lever I can pull to get what I want from her. I’ll have her eating out of my palm and swallowing my cock in days if I play this right.
And then I can move on to other things. Other more important and entertaining things.
Cole opens the door and her eyes lock onto the open doorway.
She’s calculating whether she has the time to make a move and whether she can pull it off.
She’s weighing up her options and it’s a sign that she’s not going down without a fight.
She’s going to push back and that’ll make the game much more interesting.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I say, making sure my tone belittles her. I step into the doorway, blocking her exit and removing any possibility of escape. “I’ll come back when you’re feeling better.”
Nia sits up, and my wolf and I take a strange satisfaction in watching her hope extinguish. My eyes watch her every movement, trying to figure out every tell she has so I can weaponize them against her. Infuriatingly, the girl sits still, impassive and giving me nothing.
I pull the door and Cole ensures every lock and bolt is secured as I walk away. I need to get away from the pathetic, weak girl who’s making my head spin. I’m too close to losing control for my comfort and she’s gotten under my skin in a way I don’t like.
“I need to know what you’re going to do, Luke.”
Cole’s concerned enough to reach for me through the pack bond and it’s worrying. My best friend is reaching for me, primarily to ensure I’m okay. He’s pretending he needs to make preparations for whatever I have in mind to conceal his intention and that means he’s more alarmed than he’s letting on.
I catch some breaths as I head to the front door.
“Luke?”
“I’m going for a run, Cole.”
“I meant about Nia. What are you going to do about Nia?” He pauses and a tint of anxiety catches my attention. “You can’t leave her in there on her own. Not indefinitely.”
My teeth grind again and any composure I’d collected disintegrates. “She can wait a goddamn day. I’ll be damned if I dance to her tune and she’s perfectly safe.” I swallow and Cole waits. “Take care of her, Beta.”
He sighs as I shut the door behind me and the outside air cools the anger burning through me. I walk away from my house, wondering what the fuck that girl is doing to me.
Cole and Lawson both laugh. At me, not with me.
“I thought you didn’t care, Luke,” Lawson says, and I can’t find it in me to argue with him.