Page 50 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

brYN

Ismoothed my hands over my dress as I looked at myself in the mirror.

I wore a soft, cornflower-blue dress that stopped a few inches above my knees.

It was shorter even than the sweater dress I’d worn to the bonfire, but I felt beautiful.

The dress flared out at my hips, giving me more of an hourglass figure than I thought I had.

There was something about the scene that struck me as very familiar.

I had admired herself in the mirror the night of Gregor’s funeral as well.

Mom and I had complimented each other’s outfits.

Unfortunately, that night had ended with my dress ruined with mud as Troy and the Terrible T’s laughed at me.

Tonight, I knew, wouldn’t end the same way.

I had never felt more excited to get dressed up and spend time with the people I loved.

Here, I had friends and a purpose. Violet, Mable, Frankie, and so many others had told me that my gardening abilities helped the pack tremendously.

My chest filled with pride as I thought about how much I’d been able to help out and how rewarding it had been.

I also loved working in the mess hall, chatting and laughing alongside the others.

It was wonderful to feel part of something greater than myself.

My skills had always gone overlooked and underappreciated by the Kings, but that wasn’t the case here.

I walked over to the small box where I kept the few makeup items that Violet and Tavi had given to me. I pulled out a red lipstick, the one that Tavi had dared me to wear.

“It’ll make your eyes pop against your dark hair—especially if you wear it with that blue dress,” she’d told me days ago. “You’ll look like a goddess!”

I put it on and smacked my lips in the mirror. Wow, I thought, surprised at how flattering the vibrant red was on my mouth, Tavi knows her shit.

I ran a brush one last time through my wavy locks, my hair falling to my middle back.

Violet let me know what Jasper had been too excited to tell me.

The party would be in the mess hall, so I would be plenty warm in my short sleeves, even as the night grew cooler.

Next, I stepped into a pair of tall, knee-high chocolate-brown boots.

Violet had been responsible for these. Apparently, she had requested them from Colville. My legs looked amazing in the boots.

Finally, I was ready. When the knock came on the door, I rushed downstairs, swinging it open to find Night, not Jasper, standing on the porch. My breath caught as I looked up at him. He never knocked. It was his mother’s cabin, so he usually just walked inside without a care.

And…there was something different about him.

Something about the perfection of the tight, dark jeans that outlined his strong thighs and tapered waist perfectly, or maybe it was the black button-down shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up to his elbows and which put his incredible forearms on display.

It might also have been the way his shiny, silken black hair was pushed back out of his handsome face.

I wasn’t the only one staring. Night took his time, letting his eyes drop down and then slowly back up my form.

My body felt hot under his devouring gaze.

His eyes widened at the way my dress clung to my torso.

There was just enough cleavage on display to make me feel naughty but not slutty.

Finally, his jade-green eyes met mine, and suddenly the mood shifted to one that was less hot and more awkward.

I should have asked him if he was going to the party too, but the words wouldn’t come.

“Bryn!”

The sudden voice came from behind Night, and it startled us both.

Jasper emerged from behind his Alpha. He wore a pair of dark gray slacks that looked tailor-made for his lithe form and a light blue button-down shirt.

The top few buttons were undone to show a few inches of his tan chest. He looked hot, for sure, but he didn’t make me feel hot.

He didn’t make moisture pool in my panties the way Night had with one look.

Jasper took in my dress, cursing gently under his breath. “Amazing,” he said to me.

He looked at Night to address him formally, but Night was already growling.

Before I could react, he grabbed Jasper by the collar of his shirt and threw him off the porch.

I gasped as Jasper caught himself on the ground like a cat.

He stood up straight, sending a bewildered look from Night to me before bowing his head.

Night stomped off the deck and stood over Jasper.

His erect posture and broad shoulders made him look so damned commanding.

Jasper stole another glance at me, his eyes filled with longing and sadness.

But another growl from Night—who stood over him, fists tight at his sides—made him bow his head lower.

Jasper nodded, his eyes no longer coming up from the ground to meet mine, and then he rose, turned away, and walked off without another glance in my direction.

I didn’t know what the fuck that was, but I understood that Night had just ruined an opportunity for me to hang out with one of my friends.

I stomped off the deck, ready to tear into Night, to rip him a new asshole for scaring off Jasper like that, but then he looked at me, and I froze where I stood.

There was something so incredibly arousing about the possessive way he looked at me. Like he was claiming me with his gaze. His eyes roved over me, his pupils dilating with need. A few strands of his black hair had fallen over his forehead and into his eyes.

I struggled to take in a breath. My thighs began to rub together, unable to chase off the need for friction in my core. He watched me, inhaling deeply. I knew that he could smell my arousal, and that knowledge only heightened my own need.

My breathing increased to an almost-pant. What the fuck is happening? The thought ran through my mind over and over again, as if the more I asked it, the better my chances were of finding an answer. But there were no explanations for what was going on between me and Night.

For some reason, I felt like punching him in the face one moment, only to be drawn to him like crazy the next.

I shouldn’t want the man who had kidnapped me, but as I looked at him now, I no longer saw him as my kidnapper.

Instead, I saw a big, strong Alpha who loved his pack and adored his mother, who had taken care of the quirky, chatty Tavi like a little sister after she lost her family, and who made my heart race uncontrollably with only a look.

I knew I felt something for him that I had never felt for another man.

He had saved my life twice. And right now, I needed him. Desperately.

I continued stepping off the deck, and his eyes watched every move I made.

I liked the way his eyes followed me—it made me feel brave and confident and desirable.

The final step off the deck propelled me forward.

I ran toward him, crossing the few feet of distance between us in just a few steps.

I felt like the wind that played around my thighs and the hem of my dress had given me the ability to fly.

Now only inches away from Night, I moved even closer, closing the space between us.

My hand pressed to his chest, and his heart beat hard against my fingers.

He rumbled, his eyes closing briefly at my touch.

When his eyes opened again, those green orbs glowed with all the hunger I felt rising inside my own body.

Before I could second-guess myself, I let my other hand slide up his chest to the back of his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.

Night

She’s kissing me.

I had come to my mom’s cabin in the hope that Bryn would finally be awake.

I had planned to talk to her. To try and explain what I thought was going on between us.

I wanted to tell her that she could be my mate.

But when she opened the door in that little dress, her hair soft around her shoulders, those bright blue eyes staring up at me, everything I’d planned to say died in my throat.

I couldn’t think or talk, but I knew she was perfection—and what’s more, I knew that she was mine.

Bryn is kissing me.

Unfortunately, before I could get my shit together and pull some kind of coherent sentence out of the jumble of thoughts and feelings that my mind had melted into, Jasper had showed up.

I had snapped at the boy before I could think better of it.

My wolf had growled for control, and I threw Jasper bodily off the porch.

I surged into his mind and forbade him right then from pursuing Bryn any further.

I hated to use that power—the Alpha command.

It was an intrusion of rights, meant only for emergencies.

But Bryn—kissing me, touching me, with me.

Mine—was worth it. She was my mate, and I would be damned if I let any wolf take what I knew was mine.

I’d ordered the boy not to look at Bryn if he couldn’t do it without desire.

He had bowed low because he was unable to gaze at Bryn without wanting her.

If I hadn’t wanted to slaughter Jasper for his thoughts, for the arousal wafting off him at the sight of Bryn, I would have told the kid that I understood why he wanted her.

I had thought she would put up a fight—that she would yell at me for scaring Jasper off.

I expected her to call me an asshole, the way she always did.

I was ready to let her rip into me and get it all out of her system before I looked her in the eye and told her that she was mine, that she was always meant to be mine, and that I wanted her to stay with me.

But I should have expected her to surprise me.

She had come to me, her skirt lifting slightly in the cool breeze, making me harder than I’d ever known I could be in my jeans. She drew close to me, smelling delicious and warm and so, so perfect, and brought me down for a kiss.

And the kiss was everything. The minute her lips touched mine, the breath left my lungs, my heart pounding loudly against the palm that she pressed there.

Each beat was a single word—Mate. It echoed over and over in my head, through my blood, carried in every cell of my body.

I pulled her against me, unwilling to let either of us breathe without the other.

She moaned into my mouth, a soft little mewl that drove me fucking insane.

I reached around, cupping the ass that I had literally dreamt about, and lifted her up until her feet were off the ground.

She wrapped her legs around my waist—the movement causing her to grind against my straining cock.

I growled loudly into her mouth, eager to take her right then.

But no—this wasn’t for anyone else’s eyes; she wasn’t for anyone’s eyes but mine. I took her back inside my mom’s cabin. I set her down begrudgingly, and she stepped away from me. She stared up at me, wanting, needing. Her lips were slightly parted and swollen from my devouring kisses.

I bit my lip, wanting to taste her again, knowing exactly what she needed because fuck, I needed it too.

“Grab whatever you need for the night,” I said.

She blinked at me.

I growled, impatient. “Bryn, you can either get your stuff and come back to my cabin on your own, or I can throw you over my shoulder and take you there myself.”

She gasped, eyes widening as she understood what I was saying.

She rushed upstairs to her room, and I tried to adjust myself in my pants.

My thoughts were a mess. What the hell am I doing?

I had no clue. I wasn’t sure of anything except that Bryn was my mate and I needed her.

I had smelled the sweet spice of her arousal on her, but now it was on me too.

It was intoxicating, just like everything else about her.

She came back downstairs, a small bag of toiletries and a pillow I swore had once been in my cabin in her arms. I couldn’t wait any longer.

I took her hand, yanking her against me so I could kiss her again.

I caught another one of her delicious moans in my mouth, my free hand running through the soft strands of her hair.

She pulled my bottom lip in between her teeth, which was a dangerous move.

If I were a lesser man, I would have shredded her dress right there in my mom’s foyer.

Instead, I forced myself to pull away from her, glaring at her with a mix of reproach and lust. She giggled as I pulled her behind me toward my cabin. The sound of that laugh went straight to my cock, and I picked up the pace. If I wasn’t inside her soon, I might actually explode.

Mate.