Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“I chose well. The power I supplied the pack through the blood moon and you meant the pack were happy with my choice. So we celebrate.”
I raised a brow. “Because everything is a competition?”
He nodded. “Yes. Especially after the blood moon when the power is fresh. We will hunt to celebrate.”
“Hunt? People?” I grimaced.
Dorian laughed and shook his head, “No. Elk mostly. The biggest kill gets honored at the celebration banquet.”
“But I’m guessing that has to be you to prove yourself to the pack?”
He smiled down at me, “You catch on quickly.” He kissed my cheek, then led me through the villages.
Members of the pack nodded, said their greetings, but they mostly just gave us a wide berth. I thought that was because of me, but Dorian leaned down to my ear, his lips brushing it, “They are wary of the other alphas. We usually stick to our own territories. Them being here puts the pack on edge.”
I let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t me.
After a while of looking through the main path of the territory, Dorian started leading us back toward the bridge.
“Let’s get you fed, Sweet Siren. I want you to myself for a while.”
***
I smiled. I was hungry and a little overwhelmed.
I had only known vampires. I had only known solitude. So many people all at once, and ones that were wary, made it hard to hold the smile on my face.
Dorian led us over the bridge and back toward his treehouse. It was definitely the grandest of them all. Surrounded by the warriors’ tree homes, it seemed even more so.
Dorian took us inside and led us to a small dining room. A wooden table grew up from the floor. There were four wooden chairs with half-melted candles on the tabletop.
A glass wall made up the entire wall behind the table, so I sat in the seat facing it. Dorian kissed my cheek as he brushed past.
Atticus and Zachariah sat at the seats on either side of me. They had been quiet and just as wary as the people of the villages.
Dorian went to the wooden benches along the wall. He started pulling out potatoes, onions, and carrots.
“You are cooking for us?” Zachariah frowned.
Dorian nodded, humming as he pulled a slab of meat out from the sink. “I had this prepared a couple of hours ago for us.”
“And you cook it yourself?” Atticus was confused, too.
I had no idea why.
Dorian looked over his shoulder with a smirk. “You have servants for your meals?”
Zachariah and Atticus looked at each other. That look said everything.
Dorian scoffed. “If you can’t cook, then you are half a man. You should know how to please your Luna better than anyone else.” He walked forward, a dripping blade in his hand from cutting the meat. He leaned down over the table, eyeing the other two alphas. “And do you know how to best please your Luna?”
“Food,” I answered easily.
Dorian winked at me, then grinned and walked back over to the bench.
“I don’t know where you’ve been, Alpha Dorian, but I would say we have more than pleased our Luna.” Atticus was defensive, his eyes going to me with a frown.
I laughed at the look he gave me.
“I was pleased with the sex. I am pleased. But I have been hungry for the last five years. I have to admit that some delicious food made by a man who can pleasure me as well? Major points.”
Atticus’s frown deepened as Zachariah scowled, watching every move Dorian made like he could download the information on what he was doing.
Dorian smirked, then went back to his cooking.
I stood up and went over to him. “I’ve never cooked before. Can you show me?”
Dorian grinned and handed me a knife. “Of course, Sweet Siren.”
He moved behind me and held my arms over the vegetables, showing me exactly how to slice through them.
It took a second for Zachariah and Atticus to get up and come over.
Atticus rubbed the back of his neck. “Show me?”
“I would also be interested to learn other ways to please our Luna.” Zachariah brushed against me.
Their close presence had me sighing. It felt so comfortable– even doing the mundane task of cutting and cooking together.
Dorian showed me how to get the pots boiling on the fire, how to know when the food was cooked.
He showed me his impressive garden of herbs, getting me to smell each one before putting the ones I liked with the food.
It was surprisingly enjoyable. Each thing I did was new to me, and it felt like progress.
The food was delicious–a warm stew that we ate together, smiling and laughing. It was everything. I tried, but I just couldn’t imagine sitting there without two of them.
I pushed that to the back of my mind and enjoyed their company, choosing to deny the looming choice I had to make.
We ended dinner in the bath, then the bed, where my alphas destroyed my body again.
I fell asleep full and more content than I had ever been.
Until I saw Silas’s face in my dreams.
His teeth were sharp, dripping with my blood. He came for me, chasing me through the forest, his words like knives in my heart. I ran as fast as I could, but I tripped. Silas loomed over me, his teeth dripping, his eyes wild.
He leaned down and brought my neck to his teeth. I screamed.
“Wake up, Sweet Siren. It’s just a dream. You’re safe,” Dorian’s soft whisper in my ear brought me back from my nightmare.
My eyes flung open, my breath catching in my throat as Silas’s face melted away from my mind. A tear slipped from my cheek, and I looked at Dorian, who cupped my face, pushing my tears away with his thumb.
“There was one vampire. He was worse than the rest.”
My voice was quiet, Atticus’s snoring taking over the night air. Zachariah held me in my sleep as Dorian rested over me.
“Silas?” Dorian asked.
“How did you know that?”
“You were saying his name in your sleep. But we’ve heard of him. He’s been causing issues all over the realm, trying to make a name for himself.”
“He wants me, Dorian. Badly. He won’t let me go easily.”
Dorian pressed his lips softly against mine. “Neither will we, Sweet Siren. The realm has spoken. You are to be one of ours. Whether that is me or the other two, it will never be Silas. He won’t get to you ever again. I promise you.”
His words melted away the panic in my chest. I kissed him again, then looked down at his dressed form.
“You’re getting up? It’s still dark.”
“I need to prepare for the hunt. Sleep, Siren. I’ll be listening in case you have another nightmare.”
I wanted to ask him back to bed with me. I wanted him to stay. But he was the alpha, and that meant he had to have the biggest kill today. I couldn’t be the reason that didn’t happen.
I nodded and let him go.
I stayed awake, staring at the ceiling until the sun glowed through the glass wall of the bedroom. I was too scared to close my eyes, so I just didn’t.
I got up, bathed, had breakfast with the alphas, still reeling from my dream. But I said nothing, refusing to distract Dorian.
He was tense all morning, too. He was on edge, his face pinched.
He still grabbed my hand and led me to the great hunt. The warriors of the pack were all there, dressed in their brown leather. Dorian didn’t wear any. He had his usual loose khaki green pants that hung low enough for me to appreciate the body he worked tirelessly on.
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?