Page 115 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

That was earlier on in my recovery. Now the pain in my side had faded from searing to a dull throbbing. Another day or so, and I’d be back to form. I just hoped Dr. Stan agreed.

A knock came from the front door, and I set down the pot I was scrubbing. I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel and answered the door.

Dom was standing there. “Hey, Night,” he said with a smile.

I smiled back, relieved to see him. “Dom. Come on in.”

We returned to the kitchen, and I grabbed us a couple of beers. I sat on the counter and twisted off the tops. If Bryn saw me, she would’ve made me get off, but she was doing something else—I didn’t even know what. That bothered me more than I wanted to let on.

“How are you doing, Night?” Dom asked. “You’re looking a little constipated.”

“If you value your life, you’ll shut the hell up, Dom.”

I knew he was tempted to make some joking retort, but fortunately for both of us, he kept it to himself.

“Status report?” I asked.

“Our pack is healthy and happy. Everyone’s working as hard as they normally do, though morale’s a bit low because it’s been a while since they’ve seen you.”

Guilt gnawed at me, even though I’d expected that update. I was still recovering, but I felt like I was neglecting my pack. “What about ferals? Or Troy?”

“As far as we could tell, there has been no increase in feral activity around our territory. And no signs of Troy lurking anywhere near our borders. Things have been normal.”

“That’s a relief,” I said. At least I didn’t have to worry about the ferals and Troy on top of everything else on my plate. “Anything else to report?”

“Yes, actually. It’s about the council.”

My brows shot up. “Do they want to meet with me?”

“Yes, they do, and it sounds pretty serious,” he replied. After a moment of hesitation, he reluctantly added, “They didn’t seem very happy.”

I was glad to know Troy was leaving my pack alone, but hearing about the council set me on edge again. I wanted to visit my pack ASAP to assure myself that things were okay, but I would much rather avoid seeing the council. We were on good terms, but they were more traditional than I cared to be.

“By the way, how’s Bryn?” Dom asked.

I hesitated. “She’s…good. She’s…you know, the same.”

“Uh-huh.” He crossed his arms. “I guess you two haven’t made up yet.”

I sighed and took a long swig of my beer. “No.”

“Well, you should try to make up with her before you head back to our territory. We both know you’ll miss her like crazy if you don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s tough to talk to her when we’re like this. When we do talk, I feel like I’m bothering her or somehow making things harder on her.”

He gave a sympathetic nod. “Well, you are terrible with your words. When’s the last time you two had sex?”

I sent him a steely glare. “And how is that your business?”

He snorted. “I’m asking because maybe you’re better in bed than you are at having a difficult conversation with your mate.”

My eyebrows twitched with annoyance. “Perhaps I’ll take your suggestion into consideration. Is that all?”

He smirked at me. “Yeah. For now.”

“Good, then get to your cabin. I’m sure you’d like to get some rest after making the trip.”

He snickered as I walked him out. I shut the door, annoyance still thrumming through my veins.

For some reason, Dom’s comment had gotten under my skin. It was still on my mind the next day when I went to the cabin where Dr. Stan was staying with the other Wargs.

The cabin was pretty empty because I’d sent some Wargs out as part of the search party. When Doc saw me, he got me a beer and had me stand still while he unwrapped my bandages.

“Hmm…looks like the wound has healed nicely,” he said. “It’ll scar, of course, but I doubt you care much about that, alpha.”

He was right; scars meant nothing to me, but when I examined the wound in the mirror he gave me, I couldn’t help staring at it. I’d never been shot with a silver bullet before, and the roundish scar looked different from the old slashing wounds from teeth and claws that covered most of my body.

The scar would serve as a reminder of Evan’s betrayal.

It still hurt that he had been on Troy’s side the entire time, but soon, the scar he had left me would fade like the other scars.

The pain of losing someone who had once been so close to me would also fade, and it would become yet another fucked-up memory.

“Alright,” Doc said, moving away from me to grab the tea he’d left steaming near the sink. “You should be well enough to shift now, Alpha Night, but—”

“Great.” I could already feel the blood pumping in my veins. The urge to get out there and run was pushing me to leave almost as quickly as I’d arrived. My wolf hovered just beneath the surface, and it was getting more difficult to hold him back now that we knew we could shift.

“—but don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Doc finished. “We don’t want that wound opening up again.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy, Doc,” I said, almost at the door. “You ought to think about heading back to the Warg compound soon.”

He nodded. “Believe me, I know. I’m planning to head back in a few days. Would you mind letting the infirmary know?”

“I’ll do that.”

It was a short run back to the alpha cabin, which wasn’t near enough time for me to get everything out, but it was a start. I headed inside and heard Bryn rummaging around on the west side of the cabin. I followed the sound to the study, where she was rifling through drawers.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She jumped with a little squeak and turned around. “Night, don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry.” Technically, we were still fighting, but I couldn’t stop the smile forming on my face as I walked farther into the study. The bookshelves, desks, and tables were all made of matching cherry-stained pine.

“I wanted to make sure there weren’t any documents hidden in here,” she said. “I don’t think Troy or his father would keep them in their study, but you never know.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Silence passed between us, and that silence leaned more toward awkward than I would’ve liked.

Dom's words came back to me yet again. I didn’t want to be the kind of man who wasn’t willing to put in the emotional work a relationship needed.

Just because Bryn and I were soulmates didn’t mean the hard work of being together ended. I needed to try to bridge that gap.

“I’m heading back to Warg territory tonight,” I finally said. “Dom is going to stay behind, and he’ll be around to help you with whatever you need. I wanted to tell you before I left.”

“Oh.” She lowered her hand and glanced away. “Dr. Stan said you were healed enough to go?”

I nodded.

“Oh,” she said again. “Well, have a safe trip.”

“Thank you.” The awkwardness returned, but I wouldn’t let it linger this time. “Bryn, can we just…talk about this? I don’t want to leave you with this hanging between us.”

She crossed her arms, still not looking at me. “I don’t think we’ll ever see eye to eye on this particular topic, Night. You want to kill Troy; I want him back in prison. I don’t see how we can compromise.”

I sighed.

“But…” she said, glancing at me through her long lashes. “I think we can at least call a truce for now. I don’t want you to be thinking about our argument while you’re checking on the Wargs.”

My heart beat hard with love for her. I appreciated her kindness and understanding nature. She always thought about others before herself, even when she was irritated with me.

“If this is a truce,” I said, walking closer to her and offering my hand, “maybe we could shake on it?”

Her eyes fixed on my hand before traveling slowly up my arm to my face.

An easy smile spread across her face. “You’re going to be gone a few days, aren’t you?

” She ran her hand over mine up to my chest, her fingers splaying across my bare skin.

“Maybe your hand isn’t the part of your body I want right now. ”

A slow smile found its way to my face as she pulled me closer. I covered her mouth with mine, and she moaned, grinding against me. My arms started to wrap around her, but she turned her pert ass to me instead and pushed back against my growing erection.

She looked at me over her shoulder as she leaned forward a bit, pressing harder against me. “The hardest part about fighting with you is that we don’t get to make love,” she told me, swaying her hips from side to side. “It would be such a shame if I didn’t see you off.”

“Oh, Bryn.” I smoothed my hands over her hips. “I had no idea my mate was so eager.”

“Maybe next time you’ll remember.” Smiling, she reached between her legs and pulled her panties down. “I’m waiting, Night.”

Fuck, I didn’t need another invitation. My pants joined Bryn’s panties on the floor, and I pushed her skirt up to her lower back. That perfect alabaster ass was at the perfect height for my cock. I rubbed my length against her warm slit, and she inched her legs slightly further apart.

Steadying myself with one hand on her hip and the other holding her dress at her back, I entered her as deep as I could go. I felt the shivers of her pleasure against my thighs as I leaned over her.

“Yes,” she breathed as she braced herself on the table. “Night, my love…”

I hissed and fucked her hard, her heavy breaths and our skin slapping together the only sounds in the room.

Her occasional moans set my blood on fire and sent goosebumps across my skin.

Bryn was warm and soft inside, and I trembled every time she clenched around me.

I smoothed my hand higher up her back, exposing more of her skin.

Releasing my grip on her hip, I slid my hand to her side and over her breasts.

Her nipples were hard against my palm, and she whimpered when I squeezed them.

She started moving against me, matching my every thrust. I bit my lip and caressed her stomach down to her pussy.

Slick wetness coated my fingers as I found that coveted, sensitive bud.

Bryn gasped, throwing her head back, her hair falling over her back and across my arms, feather-light and smelling of flowers and earth. Mine. Mine. Mine. The scent and feel of her overwhelmed me. She was everywhere, and I was drunk with it.

“Night, I’m gonna—” she cut herself off with another gasp, goosebumps rising along her ass, down the back of her legs, and up her back.

“Yes,” I groaned back, upping my pace slightly.

We came at the same time. Our juices mixed, dripping to the floor. Bryn hummed with satisfaction, swaying her hips in a slow, sensual figure-eight against me.

“I love you,” I told her as I kissed her back, tasting the salt of her skin.

“I love you, too,” she said. “Travel safely, okay?”

“Always.” And I kissed her back again.