The Alpha's Ardor (2 page)

In the next second the alpha let out a rumbling growl so loud and deep that Declan could feel it in his bones, and it sent a harsh shiver down his spine. When he felt the air around him shift, Declan dared to open his eyes and glance around quickly. The sight that greeted him was surprising. The brown wolf was bleeding sluggishly from a place high on his neck as well as fresh claw marks across his muzzle. Despite that he still paced back and forth some distance away, hackles raised and teeth bared as he stared in Declan’s direction. The surprise however came at the fact that directly in between the wolf and Declan stood the strange alpha. He was massive, his chest wide and strong and his coat, a mix of dark greys and black, looked thick and heavy. Declan shifted slightly despite his attempts to keep still and when the alpha flashed a quick but relatively unconcerned look in his direction Declan saw that his eyes were a vibrant crimson.

The beta wolf across the way postured for a moment or two more but when the alpha took a single threatening step forward he tucked tail and ran, limping, back the way they’d came. The alpha stared after his retreating form for a moment or two before he turned back towards Declan. They gazed at each other in silence before Declan once again lowered his eyes in an act of submission. The alpha made a pleased chuffing noise in the back of his throat as he stepped forward and to Declan’s surprise began to sniff lightly at Declan’s own dark fur.

Declan stayed frozen as the alpha checked him over slowly. A whimper escaped him against his will when the larger wolf’s muzzle bumped against the wound hidden in the thick fur on his side. The alpha backed away then with a loud snort, and Declan wasn’t surprised when the other wolf’s fur began to ripple and shift as the change overtook him.

The man that soon stood in the wolf’s place was tall, wide chested and broad shouldered with skin tanned bronze from the sun.

His hair was thick and dark where it curled loosely at the nape of his neck, and when Declan dared to meet his eyes again he saw that they were a deep russet color. Declan could almost still see the red in them, the color that marked the man as alpha. His jaw was strong with a layer of thick stubble, and his lips were lush and full even though they were twisted into a deep frown that made his face look entirely too foreboding for Declan’s taste.

All in all Declan wasn’t surprised by how powerful the man looked, not when his wolf had been so large and obviously strong. He was however surprised by the twist of arousal that shot through him at the sight of the alpha’s body, thick muscled and strong with narrow hips and his cock half hard and nestled in a bed of thick dark hair. He shook the feeling off as quickly as he could and tried to ignore the sight of so much smooth tanned skin stretched over finely crafted muscles. Declan obviously wasn’t quick enough because the alpha inhaled deeply for a moment before his handsome face broke out into a smirk.

“Oh pup, me and you need to have a little talk because you’re trespassing at the moment. As much as I’d hate to have to kill a fine looking wolf like you I’m perfectly willing to rip out your throat if you give me a reason to.” The alpha rumbled, voice deep and rough, but Declan could hear the amusement in his tone. “Now how about you shift and let me see if the other side to you is as pretty as this one?”

Declan was speechless and for a moment he didn’t move at all. When the alpha’s eyes flashed crimson in command he scrambled shakily to his feet and hurried to obey. It had been a long time since he’d been under the influence of an alpha’s command, but his body remembered the desperate need to obey. He and Lachlan had been on their own without a proper pack or an alpha for years but that pull, that instinctual need to obey wasn’t something that ever faded. Even without it he still wasn’t stupid enough to think that it’d be a good idea to try to outright refuse this alpha something so simple.

He was actually trespassing on another pack’s territory, and the alpha had full rights to follow through with his threat. The fact that he’d taken the time to shift and speak with Declan at all spoke volumes about the alpha’s patience and hopefully about his mercy as well. Declan would be an idiot to throw that kind of generosity back in the alpha’s face.

Declan wiggled his way out of the pack on his back, sucked in a deep breath, clenched his eyes closed, and let the change overtake him.

“Well, look at that. I was right. You’re a pretty little thing in and out of your fur. Now are you going to tell me why that beta was hell bent on taking a chunk out of your ass, pretty boy, or am I going to have to make you?” The alpha stalked closer to where Declan was huddled, sore and pale on the ground as his gaze racked over Declan’s bare form with what looked unexpectedly enough like approval.

Declan was quick to scoop up his previously abandoned pack so he could have something to hide behind. He turned his gaze determinedly towards the ground to keep from staring at the way the alpha’s muscles bunched and pulled as he moved. Declan could feel himself flush when the alpha chuckled low in his throat.

“Can I put some clothes on first?” Declan forced himself not to stutter or stumble over the words, kept his tone firm but respectful at the same time. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of the conversation, and while as a shifter he had little to no real modesty left he would still rather be at least partially clothed for the conversation. The alpha made him feel a little too vulnerable. Even though he knew that a few bits of cloth wouldn’t really make a difference it would still give him a small piece of mind.

“Of course.” The alpha lost some of the rather apparent amusement in his expression and with a small frown took a step back from Declan.

Declan scrambled to pull a pair of loose pants from his bag, stand, and then tug them on as quickly as possible. The clothes he and Lachlan both carried on them were always simple and easy to get into and out of. Everything else of value they had was packed away and sealed up in a storage locker in Georgia that they’d rented when they were nineteen and desperate to keep the few things they’d managed to accumulate safe. It was barely anything, a few photos and trinkets they’d picked up over the years. It gave them something to hold on to, something to think about when the stress of their lifestyle hit them hard. They’d both hoped for years to have a reason to go back for all of it, to have a place to take it that they could finally call home, but so far they hadn’t had any luck in that area. Instead they made the trip each time their lease ran down and paid to keep it for another year. It might be a waste of hard-earned money, but to them it was worth it.

“Don’t bother with a shirt, little wolf. I’m sure you’ll be shifting again in a few minutes, for one reason or another.” Declan froze with his hand inside his bag again when the alpha spoke and then he quickly nodded in understanding. Declan settled for clutching the bag to his chest as he hunched his shoulders in an effort to look small and submissive.

“I meant no disrespect, Alpha. I would never have trespassed if I’d had a choice. Once I realized I was in another pack’s territory I ran straight ahead in the direction the scent was strongest. I’d hoped to introduce myself before any offense was given.” Declan kept his voice low and submissive and chanced a quick look up at the alpha from behind his down swept lashes.

Neither he nor Lachlan was naturally so submissive, not after so many years with only each other for company. However, like the urge to obey from earlier, Declan knew that submission, even if it was only the appearance of it, was always the best way to deal with foreign alphas. He’d come across enough alphas in his lifetime to know how they normally reacted to strange betas who refused to show respect. Needless to say the wolf that had been chasing Declan had gotten off easy in the long run. A few bites and scrapes was nothing compared to what the alpha could have done without worrying about retaliation from the beta’s pack.

“Well, for some reason I find that a bit hard to believe, the fact that you stumbled into my territory without realizing it that is, not the other bit. You were obviously too preoccupied with fleeing to come up with any major plans to be disrespectful. So why were you running in the first place?” The alpha smiled slowly at Declan, but he didn’t seem too angry about the situation, just intrigued. Almost as if the idea that Declan had run head long into his territory on purpose interested him.

Declan’s mind whirled as he tried to think of an explanation, of something close enough to the truth to tell the alpha without giving himself away. There was a good chance that this wolf would react the same way all the others had if he knew just who he was dealing with, just who Declan was.

“It was a dispute between packs, a mating negotiation that didn’t work out.” Declan tried to keep his breathing even and his heartbeat calm as he lied.

In a move that made Declan jump, the alpha stepped forward and crowded him back up against a nearby tree, bent his head and inhaled Declan’s scent deeply.

“There’s only one other scent on you, but it’s not a mate scent, not even close. So who is it, little wolf? Whose scent is wrapped around yours so close that it’s damn near a part of you? Hmm?” the alpha asked him, voice low, rough and commanding with the wolf so close to the surface.

“Brother. It’s my brother.” Declan breathed out. Lachlan was the only person he’d been close enough to in years for their scents to mingle and last for any length of time. Declan knew he was trembling, knew the stink of his fear was sharp and heavy in the air, but he couldn’t help it. Not when he was so obviously outmatched by the wolf that was so close to his throat.

“Brother? It’s so close though, almost too close to be a brother,” the alpha rumbled.

“Twin, he’s my twin.” Declan didn’t want to give up the information, didn’t want to risk giving his identity away, not when twins were so rare in their world, but he didn’t have a choice. He knew the alpha wouldn’t back off until he had his answers. Declan knew that even in this the alpha was perfectly within his right to do whatever he wanted under the banner of protecting his pack and his territory from whatever threat Declan might pose. If anything he was being kind in simply asking instead of trying to pry the answers out of Declan in another way.

“Hmm, interesting. That would explain it, why it’s almost a perfect match for yours, only a tiny hint of something else to let me know there’s two scents instead of one.” Declan jumped and had to bite back a sharp moan as fear and arousal twined through his stomach when the alpha ran his tongue, warm and wet, across the exposed skin of Declan’s throat. “So a twin but no pack, nothing else in your scent or your taste. Well, I know you weren’t running away from home, not with your scent so clean and pure except for the way your brother’s on you. So tell me, little wolf, why was that beta chasing you?The truth this time, if you please.”

The reminder that his scent, and by default Lachlan’s as well, was clean was painful. The two of them hadn’t had the chance to stay in one place long enough for other scents to intertwine with their own.

It made the wolf inside of Declan whine, made it whimper from the deep-seated pain of being relatively packless. Still Declan knew he couldn’t sidestep the question gracefully enough to not offend, not after he’d been caught out and still not punished. So he decided to answer.

“We were only looking for somewhere to rest, just long enough for my side to finish healing really. The pack there, well, they were less than welcoming.” It was the truth, just not all of it, and Declan prayed desperately for it to be enough to satisfy the alpha.

“And you expect me to believe that beta chased you all the way up here because of that?” Abruptly the alpha let Declan go and back away, his mouth pulled down into a deep frown. “I’d hoped that you’d be honest with me this time, little wolf.”

“What? I am! It’s the truth, I swear!” Declan could feel fresh panic and fear begin to stir to life in his chest.

“I might have believed you, might have took you for your word since you sound so sincere, but that beta was from the Tricot Pack and while we’re not exactly friendly I’ve known their alpha for years. She’s always been hospitable to strays; hell, she normally sends them to packs she knows are low on numbers if she doesn’t absorb them herself.” The alpha was back on Declan then, a strong claw-tipped hand wrapped firmly around the long line of his neck. “So if you expect me to believe that she had you
chased across three states
for no fucking reason then you’ll be sorely disappointed.”

Declan couldn’t help the way he reacted, the way his body thrashed and a snarl ripped its way out of him. He knew better than to challenge an alpha, knew better than to struggle, but the claws at his throat set him off in a way the threat of the alpha’s teeth from earlier didn’t. It brought back memories he’d have preferred stayed buried.

The alpha barely seemed to notice his struggles, just tightened his hand slightly and rode them out until Declan was finally able to overcome the reaction. Face flushed and panting, Declan stared up into eyes that were almost entirely crimson and a face that had begun to go slightly long, like the alpha was on the verge of shifting but was holding it back for some reason.

“So you’re not nearly as well behaved as you make out to be, are you? I’d begun to wonder.” The alpha sounded like he was talking more to himself than to Declan, but then his eyes sharpened and his lips peeled back to reveal sharply pointed teeth. “Now this is the last time I’m going to ask you, little wolf. Why was he chasing you?” The hand around Declan’s throat tightened alongside each word like a physical reminder to tell the truth.

“I was-wasn’t lying.” Declan managed to rasp out, but then the rest of the story came tumbling out when crimson eyes flashed in barely banked anger. “We just wanted shelter! I swear! We meant no harm, and we would have left peacefully when asked.” Declan’s mind struggled to find the right way to explain, the right way to tell the alpha just who he and Lachlan really were. He could feel the other wolf’s impatience beginning to rise, could hear his heart begin to speed up and could scent his anger in the air as the alpha’s hand tightened even further. Declan was finding it hard to breathe and when he spoke again the words were rasped out through a throat gone tight.