Page 3

VIOLET

So many freaking muscles. His back moved in a way I’d never seen a male’s back muscles undulate, and bumping into him had allowed me a touch. I yanked my hand off him and squeezed my torn bag to my chest. The Moon Goddess blessed this one with an overabundance of looks, and his dick? Get your mind out of the gutter.

Were his abs as hard as they looked? He slowly turned. My gaze caressed his chest and drifted down to the divots of his stomach. As if with a mind of its own, my hand reached forward, my palm pressing to his golden, silky skin. Right above the towel he kept a tight grip on. I couldn’t have removed my hand from him if I wanted to.

My brain disconnected from my limbs as I felt him up. My palm grazed over his abdomen, smoothing over the steel-coated skin. So soft . . . the towel twitched, and his shaft visibly swelled, tenting the front of it.

I swayed toward him, wanting to rub on him like I’d never wanted to touch anything in my life. This wasn’t me. I hated attention, being touched, and generally everything that put me on the spot, but my Goddess, he was so fine .

His eyes lowered, lust flashing in their depths. He wanted me as badly as I wanted him. I’d had males pawing at me enough to recognize his arousal.

His hand wrapped around my wrist, and he yanked it away from his body. A burn crested over my cheeks, and he released my hand with force. The whole thing was embarrassing enough that acknowledging it felt like adding salt to the wound.

I cleared my throat and scanned his face. A wide jawline with the barest hint of stubble, lips turned down at the corners in a frown, and onyx hair seemingly spun of silk.

And eyes . . . eyes so piercingly hazel they seemed golden. The shade perfectly complimented his bronze skin tone. This male had won the gene pool. Everything about him seemed otherworldly, like he was some golden werewolf god here to grace us with his chiseled presence.

I dropped my gaze below his nose, so he didn’t think I was challenging him. I swayed forward, drawn in by the gravity of his presence. He stepped back again. His gaze dropped to my lips. Lust radiated from him and if I had any doubt, his shaft remained tenting the towel. Then why was he moving away from me?

I bit the inside of my cheek and shuffled a step closer. His head slightly moved to the side, the back of his hand pressing against his nose.

Did I stink? No, he was obviously attracted to me so it couldn’t be my smell. There wasn’t a doubt he was older than me. Did he think I was too young?

I pursed my lips and inched around him, giving him a wide berth to look at the room he’d brought me to.

A bed with a simple white quilt spread over a full mattress sat in the corner of the rather large room. One nightstand with a lamp was next to it. A circular cream rug spread over the floor with a recliner facing the window. That was it, and I liked the simplicity; it didn’t feel in any way homey, but it was clean.

“Thank you for taking me in,” I said, brushing my wavy hair behind my ear.

“I keep my promises.” A reminder that a promise was all I consisted of. Without it, he wouldn’t have helped me so quickly. My grandfather always looked out for me, even if he never showed it. While on his deathbed, he’d told me about the favor he had with the late Beaumont Alpha. He’d handed me the contact information that turned out to be the number to the Beaumont business, the same place Maggie took calls.

The few weeks I’d stayed with Elton Pack after Grandad’s death were awful. Thank the Moon Goddess that everything had fallen into place; otherwise, I would have ended up homeless since the Luna wanted me gone.

I swallowed hard and tipped my chin up with false bravado while fighting the urge to run in the other direction, away from the clear disdain shining down at me. Just because he was attracted to me, didn’t mean he wanted me—got it. “You are set up to join my pack, but understand that if you break my rules, you’ll be cast out.”

Shouldn’t be too difficult, I liked to keep to myself.

“What rules?”

“Are you already planning your defection?” I thought Maggie was exaggerating that he was ‘gruff’ but that was under-exaggeration; like saying a demon was a sweet baby angel.

“No,” I muttered, shuffling closer to the bed. I rested my bag on the edge.

“Just behave yourself.” With those words of advice, he left with quick, long strides, and shut the door. He didn’t even give me the chance to ask if I was allowed to wander around the house. I hurried into the hall in time to see him enter the door across from me.

“Wait!” I cried out, but the bang of the shutting door cut me off. I left my new bedroom door open and approached, hesitating while an internal conflict raged inside me. To knock or not to knock. I pressed my lips into a thin line. I mean, the worst he could do was scowl at me. Right?

Well, false, the worst he could do was kill me. Goddess, why did I always end up around unhinged alphas? If I’d learned one thing, it was to stay under the radar and out of their way. But this one? I wanted closer.

I rapped my knuckles on the wood. No answer. I pressed my ear against the door . . . and it opened. I fell into nothingness. Before I face-planted, big hands wrapped around my back. I ended up with my front smashed against him.

At every contact point between our bodies, mine flared to life. Warmth bloomed in my stomach and butterflies erupted to life. I exhaled a puff of air. Males didn’t make me feel all aflutter. Something had to be wrong with me. He’d put on sweats, but without him wearing a shirt, my cheek pressed against skin.

“You smell like sandalwood.” I rubbed my fingertips against his abdomen, feeling those muscles that called to me earlier. Hitting on my Alpha was low on my list of to-dos, but this male did something to my insides, and I wanted to rub all up on him. Fire licked through my veins and pooled south.

His body jolted like I’d electrocuted him and with a violent snarl, his hands cupped my waist, and he forced me against the wall.

His hips pinned me, his cock digging into the middle of my belly. I arched my neck to look up at him. My brain struggled to brain. He felt so good. I panted, hot all over. I didn’t like being touched, I never liked being touched, but from him, I wanted it more than I wanted to breathe.

He angled his head down, so intimidatingly tall that he blocked out the majority of the light in the room.

“Alpha,” I breathed. I wasn’t sure if I was scared, but one thing I knew for certain, my insides were a mess of desire. His cock throbbed against my stomach.

I was no stranger to nudity, but the sight of him, the feel of it pressing against me, scrambled every thought in my brain.

My hand was halfway down his chest when he captured it.

“You’re pushing my boundaries,” he gritted out. The aggression in his tone shocked me so much my shoulders jerked against the wall.

I swallowed hard.

“I shouldn’t have.” I shook my head. “I-I want you.” The words spilled from my lips without thought. But they were honest and real. He slammed his palms on the surface behind me and his shaft ground against me.

“It’s called lust, female.” He leaned back.

Sliding my fingers down, I caught the waistband of his sweats. The backs of my fingers brushed against a thin line of dark hair traveling down his belly button. His cock twitched under the thin material of his pants.

“I never said I would satiate you,” he said huskily.

I yanked my hand back so fast I might as well have been burned.

“I didn’t mean to offend you.” I didn’t want to piss this Alpha off. It was obvious he was moody, and if his own sister thought he was like that, a virtual stranger could end up dead by his hands. “You’re very—” I cut myself off. I was about to call him hot to his face, like an idiot. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have felt you up like that,” I said, steeling my nerves even though I wanted to duck under a blanket.

He grunted and backed up another step.

“Out.” His chin jerked toward the door.

Emotion clogged my throat. I only got a flash of a neatly made bed in the middle of the room before I dashed out and the door slammed behind me. I speared my fingers through my hair. It was confirmed, I’d gone nuts. I huffed, trying to breathe and calm my pounding heart. He had nothing to worry about, I’d be staying far, far away from him too. I blinked quickly, successfully managing to push back the tears.

Thank Goddess.

At least this Alpha wouldn’t grope me without permission. I fanned my face. It seemed especially hot inside. I hurried down the hallway. Normally, I thought things out more. What was I doing catching his attention on day one?

To say I was flustered was downplaying it. I hurried to get out of the maze-like hallways to get some fresh air. Shuffling over the carpet, I took the sharp turn right where his office door faced the hall our rooms were in, then hurried down the long path. It hadn’t felt this long when I first walked it.

Finally, the hall spit me out into the dimly lit living room. It spanned more than thirty feet from one end to the other with the front door smack in the middle. This was the hub of it all, where all the hallways branched off to different points of the house.

Giving a peek into the kitchen as I passed the alcove, I rounded the couch and headed for the exit. The knob turned with my hand on it and yanked me forward. My toe caught on the sill of the entrance, and I face-planted into a very hard surface.

What in the Moon Goddess! I was never clumsy or falling over like this.

My apology stuck in my throat, and I hissed a breath out, gawking up at a male.

His lip twitched up in a sneer, studying me like I was scum under his shoe. I shoved off him so fast, his shirt tore with my retreat.

I gawked in horror. What was with today?!

“Sorry,” I croaked for the second time in the span of minutes. My hands shook as I spread the split material over his abdomen, like I could somehow magically patch the hole back together. Males from this pack were incredibly defined. With my inhale, I swayed forward. He smelled mouthwatering . . . His large hand engulfed my wrist, and he twisted my arm up until I cried out.

His head slightly tilted and illuminated his eyes. They were so dark they almost seemed black, demonic. My stomach dipped even though I knew that was ridiculous. His features seemed too sharp, like they would cut if I touched his face. His fair hair caught the light, glinting like honey. I tugged at my wrist, but he didn’t give an inch. Lust and fear grappled with each other, and he leaned forward, dragging in an audible breath.

“A defective shouldn’t smell so good.” His minty breath fanned across my cheek.

Not only a moody werewolf, but a prejudiced one. I swallowed hard.

Defective this, defective that. It wasn’t a new insult thrown at me. As soon as I turned eighteen in my last pack, everyone started calling me that, like I suddenly no longer had a name. I clenched my teeth. My face had warmed to a dangerous level.

“Yeah, well . . .” I clawed for a word, any word to say, but they got stuck in my throat. Then I did something embarrassing . . . I burst into tears.

He reared back like I waved a bomb around. Swiping the back of my free hand across my face, I sniffled.

He seemed perturbed and his head tilted even more, very canine in his reaction. The grip on my wrist loosened a smidge, no longer pinching the bones.

“It’s frustration,” I gritted out defensively, swiping my hand across my cheek. My ultimate weakness, also known as, my inability to control my tear ducts when I was overly emotional. I wanted to drown in them at this point.

I didn’t have too many outbreaks in my old pack, mainly because I was made a pariah, and it had only gotten worse after Grandad’s passing.

“Sure.” The corner of his lips tipped up and I yanked at my wrist, but he still didn’t release me. He was freakishly strong. My stomach roiled with fear. He held himself with so much dominance that it practically bled from his pores. There was something so predatory about him that had nothing to do with the tattoos lining both of his arms. The black inked art of a woodland scene stretched up to the hem of his shirtsleeves.

Even though it was spring in Michigan, the nights were chilled. A shiver coasted down my spine. I blinked my eyes clear of tears and looked up at him. He studied me, gaze unwavering. Direct, commanding, aggressive. Was the male in front of me an Alpha? Two alphas in the same pack was impossible, so I had to be wrong.

“You are quite a morsel.” His nostrils flared. “And you’re craving a fuck.” I swallowed so hard I could hear it. I yanked at my wrist again, twisting it until it hurt. I winced. Finally, his grip slackened, and I was able to free myself. My heart pounded in my chest with frantic thumps. I just wanted to get away.

His laugh followed me as I raced back down the hall to the safety of my new room.

What made the interaction sick was how my body reacted to his words.

So much for my walk to get fresh air. I’d give it a few minutes and wait for him to disappear before I snuck outside.