Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
He smiled, then took off up the tree again. My body never stopped humming– especially when we caught up to Callian and his friends.
Callian snarled as Dorian climbed past him. “Careful, Old Man. You’ll fall to your death if you’re not careful.”
Dorian glared at him. “Compete with your dignity intact, Callian, or you’ll find yourself cleaning out the pack lavatories.”
Callian grumbled some profanities, but I couldn’t quite hear because Dorian powered past him, leaving him behind without a second glance.
It was so damn impressive. Every time he moved, his muscles beneath my touch did, and I had to try to control my reaction. But I couldn’t. The way he climbed trees turned me on.
He was power and strength in one damn beautiful package that had me panting by the time we made it to the top.
As soon as we did, he pulled me from his back to his front and crashed his lips on mine. I sucked in a breath, holding him as the kiss burned in my core.
He held on to the tree branch with one hand, me with the other–and even that had me grinding against him. I raked my hands down his impressive muscles, unable to help what I craved.
Dorian pulled back slightly, looking over my face. “If I wasn’t in the middle of putting my pack in place, I would be taking you at the top of this tree, Sweet Siren.”
I grinned and held him, looking around. We really were at the top. And that was a little terrifying.
There was a huge branch at the top with a bunch of vines attached to it and a thin layer of leaves above us.
“Why do your pack challenge you like that? Aren’t you their alpha?”
Dorian nodded. “Yes. But wolves are competitive by nature. My pack just thrives on it. Use it as an excuse to be arrogant and rude.”
“But they talk to you like they aren’t scared of you. I thought being alpha meant they had to do what you say? At least respect you as their authority?”
I didn’t understand much about wolves, but I had heard enough stories to understand the term alpha. It seemed to be a loose term in this pack.
“They will listen to my authority. And they are mine to command. Here, the respect is earned. If I show a weakness, like a softness for a certain Siren, or show favors to my guests, it is my duty to prove myself as alpha. So they challenge me–make sure I show my prowess to outsiders and prove to them that I should still be an alpha. If I had backed down or lost here, Callian would have seen it as me disrespecting the pack. It’s a delicate balance.”
I nodded slowly. “I get it.” And I did. I just didn’t like hearing them talk to Dorian like that or have more pressure on Dorian when he already put so much on himself.
Before we could carry on, Callian joined us.
He nodded to Dorian in a more respectful way, like he was proud of him, and I understood the dynamic a little bit more.
Zachariah came next, barely panting, easing himself to perch on a branch. He looked like he had barely put in any effort, sitting there with eyes on mine again.
Eventually, the others reached us, followed by a cursing Atticus. Dorian shook his head and then eyed Callian.
“Take the first swing. Show the guests what to do,” Dorian ordered.
Callian nodded, then reached forward and grabbed a vine. He tugged it taut, then grinned, turned, and with a cocky salute, he fell back. I gasped and scrambled off Dorian.
“Woohooooooo!” Callian called out as his vine pulled tight and he swung around the tree in a huge circle.
He grinned as the others grabbed vines and joined him, swinging around the giant tree, all of them hooting and hollering.
It looked like so much damn fun.
“I want to try,” I grinned.
Dorian smiled and went to pull me back onto him. I stopped him. “I want to swing myself.”
All of the alphas scowled.
“No,” Zachariah was firm. He usually let me choose, but not now.
“Would you like a side of ‘not fucking happening’ with that death wish, Fox?” Atticus said in his usual colorful manner.
I huffed and grabbed a vine, tugging it like the others had.
“I may not be a wolf, but I can swing from a vine. We used to swing from a rope on the mountain edge into the realm lake all the time,” I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
I might have been a child at the time, but that wasn’t the point.
“You could fall,” Dorian frowned.
“I could’ve fallen at any point during this climb. I didn’t.” I was not giving in. I wanted to feel the rush and freedom of the swing. “I choose, remember?”
That got them all frowning, but finally, Dorian nodded.
“Fine.” He gave my vine a tug, testing its strength for himself.
“Hold on tight, Little Red. If you fall, you won’t heal like a wolf can.” Zachariah’s words were for me, but his glare was directed at Dorian. I ignored the hostility and gripped the vine with both hands.
“When the vine stops swinging, land on one of the lower branches and wait for me so I can climb back up with you,” Dorian ordered.
I nodded and grinned.
Then I jumped.
My grin grew and grew as I swung through the air on the vine. I laughed as I sailed like I was flying.
It felt so free.
Until there was an audible snap.
I gasped as my vine broke. My laugh turned to a scream as my flying turned to falling–and the ground started coming up to me faster than I could stop it.
10. The Fall
I turned, prepared to land on my back with the hope of surviving when I saw Dorian swinging through the air on a vine, coming straight for me.
He got to me just in time, flicking off the end of his rope toward me.
He shifted mid-air with a deafening roar, dove for me, and caught me a second before I landed.
He grunted, rolling me into him as we smashed into the ground.
Dirt and shrubbery went flying around us as he protected me, curling me in as he took the impact.
I gasped as he rolled, clenching my eyes shut in his fur.
His wolf was so big, I felt nothing but him.
He slowed us, holding me to him as he finally caught himself, digging his paws in, one still clutching me.
He slid to a stop before placing me gently on the ground. He nudged me, whimpering, panting as his eyes stared into mine.
I blinked a couple of times, surprised I was still alive, the rush dissipating fast.
Holy shit. I had almost died. But Dorian–he had saved me.
I looked up at him and gripped the sides of his furry face.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He whined, his wolf body shaking a second before he collapsed his wolf into his human form.
I sucked in a breath, watching. It was a crazy kind of magic that let him hide a wolf inside of him, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to it.
Dorian cupped my face, checking over me again, his body lying over mine.
“Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
I shook my head. “No. Were you?” I asked.
“I’ll heal.” He hung his head, leaning it on mine. “I didn’t think I would get to you in time,” Dorian whispered.
“But you did,” I said, pulling his face to look at me. “I’m sorry I insisted on going on my own.”
Dorian looked over my face like he couldn’t believe I was apologizing. But I was human enough to know when I had fucked up. I wasn’t a wolf. I couldn’t heal. Something I had been told and had been human enough to ignore.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?