Enslaved by the Alpha: Part One (Shifters of Nunavut Book 1) (4 page)

Astrid blamed her fatigue—and not the revolting prospect that he may be at least partially correct—for her inability to formulate a response. Instead of answering him, she reached up to try and pull his hand from her neck. Her own hands could hardly wrap halfway around his wrist, which only served to remind her of how vulnerable she was.

Erik leaned down and rubbed his nose against hers in an almost affectionate manner. “Know this, little human. Even if I tore your clothes off and forced you onto your knees—if I raked my claws down your back, bit you until you bled, fucked you until you screamed—you’d still be begging me for more.”

Their eyes locked, and Erik held her gaze as firmly as he did her throat. Beyond the blazing intensity of his blue gaze, she thought she could see her own eyes reflected in his.

They were frightened.

And excited.

“I was not aware that you enjoyed playing with your food.”

Erik drew back as a cool, feminine voice cut through the tension in the room. He tilted his head to the side to regard the newcomer. Rather than seem annoyed by the intrusion, he favored her with a grin and addressed her in a wry voice.

“Humans bring out the worst in me.”

Astrid didn’t immediately look for the woman. Erik’s bare chest, highlighted by the light of the flame, had caught her attention. While he was distracted, her eyes roamed down to where the stacks of muscles tied into an enticing triangle at his hips. She tried to steal a brief glance at what was between his legs, but when she caught sight of it, she couldn’t immediately tear her eyes away.

He was
huge
. Not
holy-shit-I’ve-gotta-have-it
huge, but
holy-shit-that-can’t-be-real-and-if-it-is-keep-it-the-hell-away-from-me
huge. She suddenly found the prospect of him raping her to be downright hilarious, as she could now see that it was anatomically impossible.

“Will she be your mate?” the woman asked.

At the mention of the word “mate,” Astrid’s attention was yanked from Erik’s manhood. She recognized that word, or rather, what that word meant to shifters. The vast majority of female shifters, as well as many of their weaker males, were infertile. Because of this, alphas relied on taking human females as their “mates,” or breeding partners. The offspring between a werewolf and a human was almost always a shifter.

“No,” was Erik’s firm reply. “She is just a pet.”

Astrid would have been insulted, were she not so relieved. She glanced over at the doorway, finally getting a good look at the woman. She wasn’t at all what Astrid had expected. Tall and muscular, with strong, angular features, she would have been remarkably handsome if she were a male, but as a woman she was far too masculine to ever be called pretty. Her white hair was cropped at the neck, and her luminous green eyes were fixed on Erik, one white brow arched.

“Well in any case,” she said, giving a slight shrug, “I thought you would want to know that Sylvestre has taken it upon himself to start distributing the goods we brought back.”

Erik scoffed. “American chocolate.”

“Ah,” she said, wagging a finger. “But there is also coffee.”

That got Erik’s attention. “Tell him to take his filthy paws off of it.”

“Go tell him yourself,” the woman said. She gestured towards Astrid. “Give that poor girl some peace for tonight. She’s clearly exhausted.”

Astrid stiffened as they both turned their attention on her. Erik gave her a calculating look, sighed through his nose, and then rolled off of her. She watched in silence as he tossed his pelt back on and stood. He cleared the distance between the bed and the doorway in three long strides.

“Make sure she’s fed,” he said, breezing past the woman.

The woman stared after him, appearing amused. After a moment, she turned back to Astrid and smiled. “So, what’s your name?”

It was the first time Astrid had been asked that all night.

The woman’s name was Sabine, and although Astrid didn’t want to like her, Sabine was too kind and considerate to hate. She brought Astrid a pot of warm water to wash up with, and then a bowl of hot soup to eat.

“We don’t have many spices,” Sabine explained as Astrid scarfed down her meal. “Even if they were easy to come by, we are not exactly in the habit of cooking our food.”

Perhaps it was because she was so famished, but to Astrid, the soup was the most amazing thing she’d ever eaten. The blandness of the broth only served to accentuate the meat, which was bursting with flavor.

“It’s delicious,” Astrid said, once her mouth wasn’t full.

Sabine beamed, her green eyes alighting with pride. Astrid was pretty sure she recognized those eyes—eyes that were eerily similar to the wolf that had viciously attacked her just hours before. She wanted to believe that it was just a coincidence and that there were many white wolves with those uncanny, peridot orbs.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Astrid asked as she set her bowl aside.

Sabine was sitting next to Astrid on the furs, her long, muscular legs outstretched. Coyly, she said, “Perhaps I am just a nice wolf.”

“Are you?”

Sabine gave a positively wolfish grin, revealing one pointed canine. “Not really.” She crossed her legs. “I admire your courage. It was a brave thing, to come all the way out here to find your sister. I was not aware that humans placed so much value on family.”

Astrid considered telling her the truth about her relationship with Ginnifer and why she’d come to Nunavut to find her. However, that would only serve to confirm the wolf’s bleak outlook on humanity, so she changed the topic.

“Wasn’t your mother human?”

Sabine shrugged. “So they tell me.”

Like Erik, Sabine also had an accent, though Astrid could easily place it as being French in origin. It made the female shifter more exotic, and the longer Astrid spent with her, the more attractive Sabine seemed to become. Despite her lack of feminine attributes, she radiated confidence and possessed a magnetic aura.

“You’ll want to wear these tomorrow,” Sabine said, placing a roll of bound furs between them. “That is, if you plan on leaving this room. The rest of the den, it is not so warm.”

“I’m free to leave?” Astrid asked, brows rising.

Sabine nodded. “I do not see why not. Though I would not advise leaving on your own. You should wait for Erik to come for you.”

“Why?” Astrid asked, not bothering to mask her irritation.

“Our pack, it has many males. Around human females such as yourself, they can be rather…unpredictable.”

“I thought only alpha males took mates.”

“This is true,” Sabine said. “But the other males are far from celibate. Human females hold a particular allure for our males, so it is in your best interest to avoid them, otherwise you may get them in trouble with Erik.”

Astrid’s annoyance must have been evident in her expression, because Sabine went on to add, “Wolves do not share human inhibitions. When we are hungry, we eat. When we are tired, we sleep. When we are aroused, we couple. Sex and intimacy rarely go together. It makes for a much less complicated society.”

“I suppose so,” Astrid replied. In truth, it sounded like complete anarchy.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, before Sabine stood. “I will let you get some rest.”

Astrid bit her lip, resisting the urge to ask Sabine to stay. She had always prided herself in being independent, but after everything that had happened, she really didn’t want to be alone.

“Okay, thanks,” she said, averting her gaze.

Sabine’s response was an odd barking sound. Astrid glanced up at her, brow furrowed. A moment later, Noona came scampering into the room. The large husky crashed into Astrid, lavishing her face with slobbery kisses. Astrid threw her arms around the dog’s neck and let out a squeal of delight.

“She followed us all the way here,” Sabine informed her. “We were taking bets on whether she’d fall into the ravine, but your mutt is quite capable.”

By the time Noona’s enthusiastic assault was finished, Sabine had vanished. Noona took the liberty of licking Astrid’s soup bowl clean, and then curled up on the furs beside her.

Even with Noona by her side and exhaustion bearing down on her, sleep was still elusive for Astrid. Images of dismembered men, bloodstained snow, and serrated teeth vied for the forefront of her mind. When she finally did pass out, the images followed her into her nightmares, as did the cold desolation of the tundra.

***

Every joint and muscle in Astrid’s body protested as she awoke. Her neck was particularly stiff, and she recognized that she probably hadn’t moved an inch from the position she’d fallen asleep in.

Passive anxiety kept her from shifting positions and trying to slip back into sleep. She had no delusions about where she was or what her circumstances were. She remembered everything.

The place where Noona had been was empty. As she felt around the cool space, she became aware of soft, subtle growling. It didn’t sound threatening, but that pesky anxiety had her shooting up from the furs and scanning the room in the jerky motions of a startled squirrel.

The lantern that Erik had lit was still burning, though the oil was considerably low. It cast light over Noona, who lay in the corner of the room, sharing a large bone with a brown wolf about her size. They were sharing in the way of two friendly dogs: pulling the bone back and forth and growling at one another, but making no effort to instigate an outright brawl over it.

Shoulders slumping in relief, Astrid rubbed her temple. “Well, at least one of us is making friends.”

She began picking through the bundle of clothing that Sabine had brought her. Enclosed was a rudimentary shirt made of leather. It had misshapen sleeves, with one arm longer than the other, and a neckline trimmed with an uneven strip of fur. The pants were made of a dark brown hide that she couldn’t readily identify, and were of the same shoddy craftsmanship as the shirt. There was also some sort of cape, made of shaggy brown fur. The individual pieces looked like they would have been rejected by The Salvation Army and the outfit as a whole was a fashion abomination.

“But damn, it sure looks warm,” she mumbled, mulling over the clothing. She noticed that the insides were lined with fur, and between the layers was some sort of additional insulation. Hideous as they were, they were clothes fashioned for function.

She decided to change into them, not just because they would keep her warm, but also because the outfit would most definitely ward off any advances from Erik.

Having to strip naked in the freezing room almost had Astrid rethinking her decision. She put the pants on first, and then took the more daunting plunge and removed her jacket, cardigan, and blouse. Everything was unzipped and unbuttoned, a reminder of Erik’s meticulous attempt at seduction. By the time she was removing her tank top, warmth had blossomed over her skin, leaving it lightly flushed.

Astrid knew that it was the alpha’s physical appearance that caused her to react the way that she did. If he didn’t have the body of a god, if he looked like a grotesque beast, or even just an average male, the things he’d done to her would have felt like the violation that they were. With this in mind, she resolved herself not to be suckered in by him again.

“Do all humans look like you?”

With a yelp of surprised, Astrid snapped her head to the side. In the corner of the room, Noona was still chewing on one end of the bone. The brown wolf, however, was gone. In its place was a young girl who couldn’t have been more than eight or nine. She had long, willowy limbs and chestnut hair. One of her delicate hands was clutching at the other end of the bone.

“Uh, sorry,” Astrid stammered, looking down at her state of undress. She quickly pulled the fur top over her head. “I guess I should have known that you weren’t a wolf.”

The girl frowned. “But I
am
a wolf.”

“Oh, I mean, I thought… Um, never mind.” Astrid cringed at her remarkable dearth of eloquence. “What’s your name?”

“Halley,” the girl said. She released the bone and approached Astrid on all fours, uncertainty marring her small face. “Can I touch you?”

Brows knitting together, Astrid gave a small shrug. “Sure?”

Halley placed her hand on Astrid’s cheek. It was unexpectedly warm. She held it there for a moment, and then gave Astrid’s cheek a gentle squeeze. A slow smile spread over the girl’s face.

“You’re very soft,” she said. Then, without warning, she launched herself forward and buried her head in Astrid’s chest. “Mmm, and squishy, too. I like this.”

Astrid racked her brain for something that would explain the girl’s bizarre behavior. In the pack that Ginnifer had documented, there hadn’t been any children. The alpha male, Zane, had formed the pack himself and had yet to take a mate to produce offspring. She did know that werewolves as a species could be rather tactile, using touch both as a means to foster intimacy as well as leave scent markers.

She wasn’t sure if this was either of those things, but she was certain that it made her uncomfortable. Placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders, she carefully pried her off and held her at arm’s length.

Unaffected by the slight, the girl asked, “Are you going to be Erik’s mate?”

Coming from a small child, Astrid found the question disturbing. “No, I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Good,” the girl said, her pale blue eyes brightening. “Then you can be my father’s mate.”

“Uh—”

“He’s very handsome.”

“I’m sure he is, but I’m really not looking for a mate right now.”

Halley’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. I see.” Then, quick as lightning, her attention shifted. “I like your pup.”

It was only after she nodded towards the husky that Astrid caught on. “You mean Noona?”

“Noo-na,” Halley repeated, glancing back at the dog. “So that’s your name.”

“Noona isn’t my pup, she’s my friend,” Astrid explained.

Halley looked at her, cocking her head in a vaguely familiar manner. “But she’s
so
little. None of the adults ever want to be friends with me. Do you want to be friends with me?”

“Sure,” Astrid said, the word insincere even to her own ears.

“Yay!” In an impressive maneuver, the girl wriggled her shoulders free and reattached herself to Astrid’s midsection, once again using the older woman’s chest as a pillow. “I’ve always wanted a friend.”

Astrid awkwardly patted her head, while silently wondering,
Could this situation get any weirder?