Page 29 of Fall of the Alpha

29

THE ALPHA’S PAST

Bella

Despite her intention to speak to Malachi about the negotiations with her father immediately, it ended up having to wait until the next morning, in large part because of her mother’s presence. Her mother didn’t want to be separated from her again and, truthfully, Bella was loathe to be parted from her as well. They talked deep into the night until Malachi finally came to fetch her and take her back to their room.

She saw the flash of disapproval in her mother’s eyes, but she didn’t protest, and she was fading, anyway.

Malachi carried her back, and she fell asleep the moment she was in the bed… the best sleep she’d had since arriving. Likely due to being able to see her parents, especially her mother.

She woke to pleasure.

A hot mouth on her breast, fingers stroking between her legs, Bella whimpered as her mind caught up with her body. How long had he been touching her? She didn’t know. Long enough that when she clenched, slick gushed from her opening, coating his fingers with the hot, sweet liquid. His mouth lifted from her breast, leaving her nipple hard and aching in the cool air as he loomed above her, shifting their bodies to get his into position.

Hard and thick, his cock pushed into her pussy, stretching her open. Bella cried out, writhing as she was impaled. His green eyes glittered as he looked down at her, his hands pushing her knees back toward her chest, bending her in half so he could thrust all the way inside her. The thick shaft moved deeper, making her clench and shudder as more slick coated his length.

“Malachi!” She gasped out his name as he bottomed out. The bulge of his knot was already starting to thicken at the base of his cock, then he pulled away so he could thrust in again.

“Bella.”

The purring growl vibrated through her, making her clamp down around him in pleasure. Leaning forward, his body against her lower legs, keeping her pinned beneath him, he released her knees from his hands so he could reach down and cup her breasts, pinching her nipples as he did so.

Bella moaned, arching and thrusting her breasts up into his fingers as best she could. In her current position, she could not easily reach him, so her own hands gripped the bedsheets beneath her, holding on as he began to pound into her quivering pussy.

He rode her hard and fast, exactly the way she was craving, and she screamed out his name as she came. Her muscles clamped down around him, sucking at his cock, and he fucked her harder as his knot expanded.

She felt it pushing at her opening, trying to force its way in. She sobbed out her ecstasy as her climax went on and on against the onslaught of his thrusts. The bulge of his knot pressed against her sensitive lips and clit with every thrust until he pushed in hard and fast, filling her completely. Bella screamed again as his knot shoved into her, her muscles locking down around it and squeezing tightly.

Malachi groaned, letting her legs drop so he could push deeper into her, his knot locked solidly inside her. His body was hot and hard against hers as she wrapped her legs around him, whimpering as she felt the hot jet of seed release inside her. Moaning, she quivered, and he rocked against her, his body pressing on her clit, sending another wave of passionate rapture through her overworked senses.

Panting, she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his weight on her, crushing her but also protecting her. She felt safe beneath him. Especially when he purred, the vibrations sending her into a haze of contentment. His lips and nose moved against her cheek, down to her neck, grazing her flesh rather than connecting as he purred, flexing his hips so another stream of seed released inside her. Bella moaned and shuddered, clenching around him as her body pulsed with another wave of pleasure.

She ran her fingers down his back, enjoying the way it made him shudder, the way it made him thrust forward again.

Locked together, her legs wrapped around his hips, it might not have been the best time to ask… but she had him trapped with her now, and it made sense.

“Tell me about her,” Bella murmured softly.

Malachi stiffened, pushing himself up on his forearms so he could look down at her. Despite the power, the energy that vibrated in the air around him, this close, she could truly see how much older he was than her. Not that she cared about that—she’d already accepted it—but the grey in his hair, in the stubble now decorating his cheeks, was easy to see. The little lines in his face, around his eyes and mouth, the deeper grooves in his forehead—one of which was even deeper now that he was frowning down at her—emphasized the gap between them.

“Her?”

“The Omega who was supposed to be your mate.”

Locked inside her, he couldn’t move, but he didn’t try to get away. Bella reached up, running her finger over the deepest line in his forehead, smoothing it away, as her own soothing purr rumbled through her chest. She could feel his distress, even though it didn’t show much on his face.

“Tatiana.” He said her name with reverence, with sadness. “She was with me while we fought Jeffos. All the way ‘til the end. And she saved me, jumping in front of the blast Grigori meant for me.”

Bella cupped his face in her hands, pulling him down for a kiss. He came willingly, eagerly. When his lips lifted again, there was a small curve to his lips, though it didn’t quite make a smile.

“You remind me of her in some ways,” he confessed.

“What ways?”

“There’s a similarity in looks. You might say that I find certain physical attributes appealing.” His fingers toyed with her hair. “Your kindness. Your inner strength. I was prepared not to like you.”

“Is that why you took Alek and me the way you did?”

“Yes.” He did not hesitate to answer. “I thought it would be a bargain. An exchange.”

“That I would be your hostage.”

“Yes.” His gaze bore into hers. “That changed.”

“I know.” The male who lay with her now was very different from the one she’d met that first day. The one who had enjoyed her and Alek’s loss of control, who had found pleasure in their fear and frustration.

It wasn’t just his feelings that had changed; he’d changed.

“Cora worries that I see you and Tatiana as being the same, but I do not. There are differences between you as well.” This time, the smile that curved his lips was real. She could still see the sadness in her eyes, but it was tempered, distant. The way old grief intruded on emotion but without the urgency of when it was fresh. “She would have hated the idea of being my queen.”

Something about that stung.

“I did not aspire to it either.”

“No, but you will make a good one.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I do not know if she would have. She did not like to make hard decisions. And she was too trusting. She trusted Grigori, even to the end. I think being my queen would have changed her, possibly in ways she would not have liked. You… you were raised for it.”

He said it like it was a good thing, like he admired her for it, so Bella allowed herself to relax. The differences were not bad. They were just differences. She did not want to be a replacement for Tatiana, after all. She wanted to be herself.

There was truth to it. Even though she’d been Paldon’s secret daughter, she’d been raised to lead. To think. To plan. All the things her father did. While she might disapprove of many of her father’s actions, she also understood them, and she saw how they’d led him to today.

She would not make the same mistakes.

“I will be a good one,” she said, reaching up and entwining her hands around his neck.

Malachi chuckled, a rumble spreading through his chest, and he lowered his mouth to hers again. Inside her, his slowly softening cock started to stiffen again, and his hips began to rock against hers. Moaning, she lifted hers to meet him.

Grigori

“Where the hell have you been?” Grigori snarled as he stalked into Paldon’s rooms. He came to a sudden halt as he realized Paldon was not alone.

Kenet and Liana’s parents were there as well, the males red-eyed, the females still weeping. All of them glared at him. Fear stopped his heart for just a moment before it started again. They couldn’t know. They’d realized their children were missing, but they couldn’t know he had anything to do with it.

So, why were they glaring at him?

He could hear the movement behind him as the door was closed. The sound had a finality to it that made him jump. He was never jumpy.

Lifting his chin, he pushed through the sudden disquiet churning in his gut. Before he could speak, before he could ask another question, Paldon was looking him square in the eye.

“Grigori, you stand accused and convicted of treason. You stand accused and convicted of the murder of two citizens of Zone One. We now have a treaty with Wolf Territory in which Malachi has asked for your head on a platter. Due to the nature of your crimes, I have accepted Malachi’s offer.” Paldon nodded.

The rising fury and fear in Grigori’s chest exploded, and he stepped forward, but it was too late.

The step forward ended his life a second sooner than it would have otherwise, as the guard behind him stepped beside him, swinging his blade. It cut through his throat, taking off his head in one clean sweep.

The pain was negligible as he fell to the ground because he couldn’t feel his body anymore, anyway.

And just like that, Zone One clinched its deal with the Wolf.