AlphainHiding (9 page)

Chapter Thirteen

The woods sensed the predators racing through the
underbrush. All was eerily quiet on the ground. Emily pushed herself, sprinting
as fast as she could until all her muscles were screaming. She needed to just
forget the conversation they’d had. Forget the tempting idea of stopping and
letting him catch her. Stop her wolf brain from yearning after the male chasing
her. He was faster today and she was having a tough time keeping ahead of him.
Between his new strength, speed and Alpha powers, her wolf was ready to submit.
Stupid wolf instincts.

She had a moment to notice the change in the sounds of the
pursuit behind her before a gray body came flying at her from the side. She
tumbled across the ground, coming to rest under a bush. Before she could shake
off the attack, she found herself pinned under a heavy body, her neck held
gently between sharp teeth. Instinct told her to fight, but the scent that
tickled her nose kept the struggle at bay. She lay, docile, under the jaws of
the only male who had ever caught her—the only male she’d ever
wanted
to
catch her. She was taken aback by her own behavior.

Do you yield, Em?

She couldn’t have been more surprised by his voice in her
head if he’d grown horns and wings. She jerked in his jaws and stilled when he
clamped down a little harder. She was so divided in what she wanted to do that
she couldn’t even formulate a response. Was she ready to yield?
Yes
was
the easy answer. Should she yield and let this play out the way she wanted?
No.
She couldn’t do it no matter how much she wanted to. Dread ran icily through
her belly. She was going to have to force him off her. Fuck.

No. Seth. Get off me. I don’t want to hurt you. Please
let me go.

No. I want you. I caught you. You’re under me, in my
teeth, submissive. That means you are
mine
.

Great. He understood what he’d done and understood her
reaction. Well, wasn’t this just wonderful. She sighed.

I am giving you one more warning. Let. Me. Go.

No.
A beast of few words.

Emily gathered her powers around her and cringed as she pushed
them against his mind, hard. She felt his flinch just before he let her go and
howled in rage and pain, stumbling away from her. She hadn’t hit him as hard as
she could, but she had used enough force to change his mind. She whimpered in
understanding. She hadn’t wanted to do it, but for his own good he couldn’t
claim her.

She rolled and ran. There would be no trying to explain
herself with him like this—the mood she could feel through their connection was
thick with anger and lust. She needed to get away from him. She shook with the
realization that he hadn’t just caught her but had brought her to heel. He was
her mate. She howled in defiance of that statement. He couldn’t know that
without some sort of litmus test with other women. If she let him bite her,
eventually he would hate her. She knew it—she had seen it before with other
couples. There was no way she was putting them both through that. She couldn’t
live her life with a male who hated her.

The line of trees around the cabin came into view and she
almost howled with relief. She wanted to get into the house so she could lock
herself in the bathroom for a few minutes. She knew that behind her was one
pissed-off Alpha male. If she didn’t get herself calmed down and under control
he would smell the turmoil on her. Now that her wolf had submitted, Emily was
going to have to fight doubly hard to keep from giving in to his demands.

She made it to the second step before she started her shift
back to her human skin. If she could’ve made it into the cabin without shifting
she would have. Precious seconds were wasted as she adjusted to walking upright
again. She bolted through the door, up the stairs and into the bathroom. She
released the breath she’d been holding in a whoosh once the doors were locked.

The sound of pounding feet brought a new wave of unease.
Would he be angry? Threaten her? Make her hurt him again? She could smell his
anger before he even made it to the top of the stairs and she braced herself
for his attack. If he broke the door down she sure as shit wasn’t holding back.
She’d dealt with enough enraged males and she wasn’t going to take that kind of
behavior from him.

Even if he is my mate.

The whispered thought made her want to slam her head against
the wall.

“Emily. Open the fucking door.” The growl was deep,
masculine and barely human.

“No.” This was the kind of thing she expected from males.
The rage was so thick that it oozed under the door. She wasn’t going to put up
with him trying to bully her. He could walk his ass home if he thought she was
going to take this and still drive him home.

She heard him sit in the hall, effectively blocking her
escape. His heart rate slowed slightly as he took deep breaths. She was
impressed. No broken doors, no fists through the walls, no additional angry words.
Even under the influence of his wolf he was in control. She sat down on the
floor and waited.

“Okay. I think I’m under control. Can you come out now?”

“Nope. I’m not coming out for a while. I can still smell
your anger and lust. I’m not fully in control either at the moment, so the door
stays locked.” She felt bad not going to him. This was all new and he was
dealing with it so well, but she couldn’t take the chance.

“Fine. Then talk to me. Why did you do what you did?” His
voice was low and a small amount of hurt bled into his words.

“What do you mean? Why did I make you get off me after you
refused? Hmm, maybe because I don’t like being forced into things, Seth.” She
tried to keep the anger down, but the idea that he was feeling hurt over all of
this was absurd. “Why did I stop you from making the biggest mistake of your
life? Or how about, why did I stop you from choosing something for me that you
didn’t ask me if I wanted? Or better yet, why did I put you on the ground like
a beaten puppy?”

She was on a roll now and knew it. She tried to stem the
words but just couldn’t get her mouth to shut. “You know what? I want to mate
with you, more than anything I’ve ever wanted. I still haven’t gotten my teeth
to fully shift back because I am itching to bite you and mark you. My wolf is
so pissed right now she’s going to cause me a killer headache. But I had to
stop you and will continue doing so for your own good. You need to know for
sure I’m who you want. I can’t take a mate and have him hate me. I’m hated enough
as it is. I need an ally, a partner—not someone pissed that I stole his
freedom.”

“I could never hate you, Em.” His whisper was so low she
barely caught it. It tugged at her heart but not enough to make her give in.

She sighed. “You don’t know that. Shit, Seth, I’m the only
female you’ve ever scented. You have no idea if I’m the one you want.”

“Okay. Fine. I don’t know what I want and you’re doing this
to save me. You’re my hero.” Sarcasm dripped from each word. “Can you please
come out? I’m having a tough time keeping myself from breaking the lock to get
to you. My wolf is howling in my head and I really want to hold you. I promise
I won’t do anything else. Please.”

Emily hadn’t thought about how his wolf would react to the
rejection. She sighed and thought through the idea. He seemed to be in control
and she knew he couldn’t hurt her. She couldn’t see any harm in a little
cuddling. Especially if that would give Seth back his control.

With slow movements she stood and unlocked the door. She
opened it to find a large, partially naked, irritated Seth standing in her way.
She hadn’t heard him stand again and was surprised by his stealth. He had both
hands shoved so far into his pockets that she thought he would rip them off his
jeans. His chest seemed even larger now and was heaving. His jaw was clenched.
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as in control as she’d thought.

Defusing the situation was her only action plan. She lowered
her eyes to stare over his shoulder and tilted her head just enough to show she
was submissive. She approached him slowly, each step an eternity. The four feet
that had separated them seemed like a football field full of claymore mines.
When she was within hugging distance she wound her arms around his waist and
laid her head against his chest. He hadn’t moved a single muscle as she
approached. His jaw remained clenched so hard she thought she could hear his
teeth grind. His hands were still in his pockets and his chest was like a rock
wall when she touched her face to it.

She knew her fear wasn’t helping the situation. She couldn’t
help it, though. Being with a male this pissed, especially being a female he’d
assumed he would claim, was not a safe thing. If she was any other female she’d
be worried, but he could still hurt her. He was strong—much stronger than she’d
originally thought he would be. Behind that strength was enough testosterone to
drown a monkey. That mixture spelled disaster with a capital D.

She relaxed when he finally took a deep breath and wrapped
his arms around her. His skin was hot and hard against hers. As the tension
left his body she melted into his embrace. She might be stupid for fighting the
mating thing, but she wasn’t stupid enough to fight the wonderful feeling of
his arms around her. He was warm and safe.

His wolf was going apeshit in his head. Emily’s rejection
had done something primal to his wolf side, and now it was trying to force him
to do something drastic in response. They both knew she was their mate. Her
denial had been worse than a slap to the face—it had ripped his heart out of
his chest and stomped on it. Now the urge to mark her with something, anything,
was riding him hard. He wanted his tooth marks on her skin, his cum on her
body, his scent covering her from head to toe. When she’d approached him so
demurely, head cocked submissively, he’d had to fight the urge to pounce on
her. Especially with her naked flesh glowing in the light from the bathroom.

The instant her arms went around his waist he felt his body
and his wolf calm. She hadn’t rejected him. She had rejected the decision to
let him claim her right now. If he was honest with himself, he would agree that
his behavior was beyond strange and jumping at such a life-altering decision
wasn’t the smartest thing. He was a planner, a coordinator, a list maker. He
never jumped into anything without thoroughly going over every angle. The idea
of taking her as a permanent mate, now, without knowing anything about her, was
crazy. For cripes sake he hadn’t even met her father. The instincts were
strong, though, and it was definitely harder to fight them than it ever had
been before.

He wrapped his arms around her and held on for dear life.
She was his focus, his anchor. Her naked body molded to his. He could feel his
breathing and heart rate slow to match hers. It was such a strange sensation to
have his body in perfect harmony with another. As he held her against his chest
a profound sense of calm and tranquility flowed through him.

“Emily,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so angry
about all of this. Knowing it and getting my brain to believe it seem to be two
different things, though.”

She leaned back in his arms and studied him for a moment.
“Seth. You’re an Alpha wolf and almost a baby in your shifter abilities. If you
hadn’t reacted this way I’d be worried. Control is a difficult thing,
especially when you’ve ignored your wolf for so long.”

“What do you mean I’m an Alpha? I can’t be, can I?”

“Do you remember in the woods when you spoke to me? Only a
strong alpha or beta could do that, but to break through to me makes you a
carrier of Alpha blood.” She pushed away from his arms and he held her for a
moment before relenting. The instant she was away from his body the tension
started building again. He stared down into her eyes and watched understanding
cross her face. “You feel it again, don’t you? Your wolf was rejected and
freaking out, right? Come with me and I’ll try to make some of the
possessiveness go away.”

Seth let her lead him into her room. He wasn’t sure what the
plan was, but anything that got the two of them close to a bed was good in his
book. It wouldn’t take much for him to grab her and take her. He was so aroused
his cock and balls ached. He could do this. He could be with her and fight the
urge to bite her. He’d done it the night before without too much difficulty. In
the back of his mind he knew the truth, though. Something had changed. The
moment he’d caught her in wolf form had started something in the primitive
parts of his brain. She was his and had accepted that when she’d submitted. She
needed to be branded with his teeth and scent.

He was lost in the battle waging in his mind until he
realized that she had pushed him against the bed. He sat quickly and sucked in
a ragged breath as she knelt between his knees. Holy hell, if she was going to
suck him off he wouldn’t survive three minutes without coming down her throat.

The feral look in Seth’s eyes worried her. He seemed in
control but she could almost see the struggle going on between him and his
wolf. She understood it but was at a loss as to how to fix it. Her behavior and
actions had caused this. She needed to repair the damage or their ride home was
going to be torturous and potentially dangerous. As she walked him into her
room she debated. Did she tempt fate by making love to him so his wolf would be
appeased, or did she give him a blowjob to appease hers? When she backed him to
the bed the decision was made for her. Her wolf howled in her head and forced
her to her knees. That was the safer idea. Neither of them was in any state of
control to keep from marking each other.

The need to taste him rode her hard. The sight of his
straining cock was enough to make her salivate and make her wolf yip with
appreciation. The ragged sigh that escaped his lips urged her forward. With nimble
fingers she opened the sides of his jeans to free his cock. She wrapped a hand
around the base, caressing his full length and squeezing the head before
stroking back down. He was really beautiful, long and thick. She grabbed the
material and yanked it down his legs until he was completely naked. A sigh
escaped her lips as she knelt between his thighs, soaking in the view. She
cupped his balls with her other hand and grinned at the groan it elicited.