The Alpha Won't Be Denied (5 page)

“Sweetheart, I already told you, I do not want you when you’re drunk and completely unaware of what you’re doing. I want you to come to me. I want you to want it.”

“Whatever.” She blushed, mortified. She was sure he was telling the truth about her begging him.  “The point is…I have been raised by a loving but incredibly overprotective, domineering, bossy family. I feel like I’m suffocating. I feel like the only person who has any faith in my independence and ability to live on my own is me. I can’t be married to an Alpha.”

“Does your father boss your mother around? Is she downtrodden and submissive?”

“Of course not!” Virginia cried, horrified. “I mean, they each have their roles in the pack. He obviously takes care of pack security and pack alliances and settles matters with pack members, and she oversees a lot of the social stuff and family matters and a lot of the business end as well. She’s got a great head for numbers.” Then she looked at him indignantly.

“That doesn’t mean that’s how you’ll be when I’m your wife. I mean…damn it! If I was your wife, not when.”

“Have I ever tried to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do?”

She was about to say, how about getting married, but he had her there.  She’d been the one to propose.

“We have a honeymoon booked for the next couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s as good a place to hide out from your pack as any. You can decide what you want to do when that time is up, and I assure you, I won’t make a move on you unless you ask me to.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” she muttered, flushing. She hoped she could hold out for two entire weeks.

“Good. Then your virtue is safe.” He grinned at her and headed for the pack lands.

“Carver, you don’t know everything about me,” she protested as she followed him.  There were things she didn’t dare tell him, and the new part of her life wasn’t going away. That alone was likely to be a dealbreaker.

Carver didn’t look the least bit concerned about whatever secrets she might be keeping. In fact, he looked downright cheerful.  “I look forward to finding out.” 

She spent her wedding night hanging out with Katrina and catching up on old times. Katrina, infuriatingly, refused to believe that Virginia’s marriage was fake. Virginia had confided the entire story to her, making her swear not to tell Virginia’s family.  Katrina had just shrugged and gone on talking about where Virginia and Carver should start their new pack and wondering whether Virginia’s cubs would be healers like her.  Apparently whatever madness had infected Carver was catching; neither of them could hear a word Virginia said when she insisted that her drunken marriage was a sham.

“I thought you hated Carver,” she protested, settling into her bed, a comfy four-poster with a down mattress. “Why do you want me to be married to him?”

“I did hate him when I first met him. I mean, his Alpha, my darling husband, had just kidnapped me. And Carver was an ass to me when I first got here. But in fairness to him, he knew about some horrible things that my pack was doing, and he assumed that I knew about their abuses and was okay with it.”

Katrina flopped onto Virginia’s bed next to her and lay down, spreading her arms out. “Whee, comfy bed! I shouldn’t be here,” she added. “You really should be spending your wedding night with your husband. That’s kind of a traditional thing.”

Virginia ignored her suggestion. “Okay, so you don’t hate him. That doesn’t mean that I should be married to him.”

“You guys have had incredible chemistry from the time you first met him. He’s meant to be your mate. You’re just such a stubborn donkey that you haven’t admitted it until now.  This honeymoon will change your mind.”

Virginia let out an unladylike snort of contempt. “The first time I met him, I dumped a pitcher of beer on his head. Because his pack had kidnapped you.”

“Exactly! Sparks flew!” Katrina insisted happily.

“Ugh. You’re still in that honeymoon bliss phase where you think everyone is meant to find their one true love. Excuse me while I barf.” Virginia settled into bed and rolled over with her back to Katrina. “I appreciate your pack saving our butts, but I assure you, once we leave Honeymoon Mountain, I will get the marriage annulled and find an apartment far away from him and far away from my family.”

“All righty then, coughcough noyouwon’t coughcough whosaidthat? Well, I’m off. I actually do have a husband I want to have sex with, because it’s been at least a few hours since he mauled me and I’m feeling rejected.”

“Ew. You’re my cousin. Too much detail.”

“So I shouldn’t tell you that men from the Killingworth Pack are particularly well known for their skill in oral matters?”

“Aaaah! Get out!” Virginia sat up and threw a pillow at Katrina, who dodged it, laughing, and left the room.

Virginia spent the rest of the night cursing her cousin for putting those unwelcome thoughts in her head.  She couldn’t stop thinking of Carver parting her thighs with his strong hands, kissing her hungrily, tasting her, thrusting his tongue inside her…

He never even came into the room, however. He didn’t even try to spend their wedding night with her. Was he still sticking by what he’d said back at the motel room? He was going to wait until she came to him? Well, he could wait until his dick dropped off, because she was never going to ask him for sex.

She woke at sunrise. They had a long drive ahead of them.

As she was about to leave,  Katrina came into her room with a suitcase.  “A little wedding gift. We’re about the same size, so I packed you some of my clothes and some toiletries and stuff. Given that you’re eloping and haven’t had time to pack. That’s terribly romantic, by the way.”

“You just really want me to hurt you, don’t you? Thank you for the clothing. And stop trying to pimp me out.” Virginia opened the suitcase to look inside. “Where did all this lingerie come from?

“Don’t worry, it’s all brand new. I sent some of the girls over to the lingerie shop in town to buy it for you. The honeymoon package.”

“Crotchless panties? Velvet mask? Furry handcuffs? And what’s with all these bottles of edible oils?” she held up a bottle of Kahlua Flavored Love Likker and glared at Katrina. “I told you, there will be no sex. And since I don’t plan on cooking with Kahlua flavored oil, I don’t need it.”

“Talk to me after the honeymoon, babe.” Her cousin winked at her.

              Virginia slammed the suitcase shut and grabbed the handle. “Fine. I’m leaving for my sex-free vacation on Honeymoon Mountain,” she said, and walked out of the room with a scowl on her face.

              Carver had sent a friend from the Killingworth pack to fetch his pickup truck from the casino, and he insisted on driving. As they drove, Virginia texted friends of hers to tell them about the marriage. They’d hear about it on the grapevine anyway, and it would seem weird if she didn’t let them know.

              She was cringing at the thought of having to tell everyone that things hadn’t worked out once the honeymoon was over.  She was probably just going to go hide out on the other side of the country for a few months, maybe in California. She wouldn’t tell her family where she was; she’d let everyone calm down before she checked back in.

              Sally sent her a quick, simple text in return.

Congrats! I hope you enjoy your honeymoon.

              Virginia couldn’t believe it. No interrogation? No demand for details?

              She sent a text back.

Are you all right? You’re acting odd. Haven’t heard much from you lately.

              A reply came quickly.

Everything’s great! I have a new job, actually. I will tell you about it when you get back. Talk to you in a few weeks.

              “Hmmph,” Virginia muttered skeptically, staring at the screen. She wasn’t buying it. Something was off, but she could hardly go running back to Timber Valley right now to interrogate her friend.

              “What’s that?” Carver said.

              “Oh, nothing, just letting all my friends know about our happy union. I’m going to take a nap now, if you don’t mind.” She’d barely slept the night before, and also, if she was sleeping she wouldn’t have to make awkward conversation with her new husband.

              When she woke up, they were high up in the mountains and apparently they’d driven straight into Paradise. Or Switzerland.

              “What is this place?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “It’s beautiful. Did we leave the country?” She wouldn’t put it past him.

              “We’re still in the good old U.S. of A.  We’re in the village of Wysshorn, named after a mountain in the Alps. The town was founded by Swiss shifters who came over here in the 1800s because human villagers there had started to suspect their existence.  A honeymoon lodge was built here in the early 1900s, and since then the whole area has been nicknamed Honeymoon mountain.”

              They were driving into the town center. All the buildings had a Swiss chalet feel to them, with wide gables overhanging porches and decorative latticework lacing the eaves.

              “Ooh, a café! I’m starved! Is that place actually called Café Edelweiss? Can we go there?” As they parked, Virginia perked up considerably.  There was a delicious chill in the air, and in the distance the silver-capped mountain peaks thrust jaggedly up into an azure sky.  The town looked as if it had been scooped up from Switzerland and gently set down in on these mountains. She loved how different it looked from Timber Valley; it made her feel as if she’d finally escaped.

              “My wife’s wish is my command,” Carver said as they climbed out of the car.

              “How about if I command that we don’t pretend we’re husband and wife?” Virginia yawned and stretched.

              “While we’re on our honeymoon? That might raise some suspicions. And then word would get back to your parents. And then they’d come storming up here to take you home.”

              Virginia shuddered at the thought.

              “So we should play it up as much as possible,” Carver continued, and he slung his arm around her shoulders and ran his fingers along her neck, a light, feathery touch that sent ripples of heat through her despite the cool, crisp mountain air.

              “Stop that,” she hissed, but she found herself unable to step away from him. He stopped stroking her instantly, and a part of her howled in protest.

              “Just trying to be helpful.” There was a gleam of amusement in his eyes as they walked into the café. He knew exactly what his touch did to her body, and clearly loved tormenting her.

              A  cheerful, pink-cheeked waitress dressed in lederhosen seated them at a table by the big picture window and handed them menus. The window framed the mountains in the distance like a landscape painting.

“I’m Greta; I’ll be your server today. And congratulations!” she said to them. “You’re staying at Honeymoon Mountain Resort, I can tell.”

              “We’re just about to check in,” Carver said, reaching across the wooden table and stroking Virginia’s hand. She forced a big, bright smile and grabbed his hand between hers. He needed to stop before he stroked her into orgasm right here and she pulled a Meg Ryan from
When Harry Met Sally
.

              “How about the fondue? Honey?” She forced that last part. She wanted to order, eat, and get to the resort as fast as possible.  She needed to shift and go for a run soon, to burn off steam. At least she hoped that would work. It hadn’t lately.

              “Excellent choice, my darling bride.”

              When the waitress left, she pulled her hands away and folded them across her chest. Then she smiled at him and said through clenched teeth, “You’re laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?”

              “I’m not laying anything. Yet.”

              He looked her right in the eye, and the carnal hunger in his gaze made her want to crawl across the table and publicly mate with him in front of the half-dozen families who were enjoying their fondue. He didn’t have to say a word. His gaze lured her to him and promised sensual delights beyond her imagining.

             
Why not just do it?
a treacherous little voice in her head whispered enticingly.
He’s your husband. All you have to do is ask. You know you want to.

              Because if I do, I’ll be saying this marriage is real and I’ll be married to an Alpha and I will never, ever know freedom. And he wouldn’t tolerate the new path I’ve chosen. And I wouldn’t tolerate him not tolerating it.

             
“I need some fresh air. Be right back,” she choked out, and hurried outside.  She took deep breaths, drawing the crisp air into her lungs. Now that she wasn’t sitting right across from him, she felt a little bit more under control.

              She realized that a young woman was walking towards her with a tentative, questioning look on her face. She had dark hair and pale skin and circles under her eyes. “I hope I’m not disturbing you,” she said. “My name is Darlie; I’m the nurse at the local clinic. I see that you’re a healer. Are you here for the skiing or the honeymoon resort?”

              “Honeymoon,” she said.

              Darlie’s face fell. “Oh, never mind, then. Congratulations!” Her smile was strained. Worry was pinching her forehead and she had a nervous air about her.

              “Did you need a healer?” Virginia asked. “I’m around during the day if you need any help.”

              “Are you sure? I mean, our current healer is…she’s taking a break for a few days. We could use the help. But it’s your honeymoon.”  She looked doubtful.

              “Tell me where it is, and I’ll be there at nine a.m.”

              The woman pointed down the street. “Even a few hours would help. It’s walking distance from here. You turn right at the corner and go two blocks and it’s on the right side of the street – you can’t miss it.” She favored Virginia with a smile. “Thank you so much. Ask for me when you come in.”

              She walked away quickly, back in the direction of the clinic, but that faint air of worry lingered in the air after she’d gone.