Page 11 of The Alpha’s Forced Omega (Alaska Alpha Wolves #1)

I see the disbelief flashing in Aurora’s eyes, just as a chorus of incredulous gasps fills the air inside the den.

I knew what I must do when I picked Aurora up in that motel room. That’s why I called an emergency meeting between the elders and the alphas, wanting to announce the truth I’d discovered when I went out in search of Aurora.

Although the other alphas are my subordinates, working under me, they have enough pull within the pack to make decisions and offer opinions. But not about my life. I turn to them, a determined scowl on my face as a response to their skepticism.

One glance around tells me that no one believes what I just claimed. I mean, it is quite unfathomable that the lowly omega who was set to be the pack’s sacrifice to the demon would turn out to have psychic powers, but I trust myself enough to be certain of what I witnessed.

I am the pack’s leading alpha, after all, and I won’t doubt myself in such a dire, serious situation.

It angers me that I’m being stared at by the others as if what I just said is a lie.

Brooks chuckles wryly. “We must protect the omega?!” he scoffs, the sound of his gruff voice stirring my inner wolf into attention, ready to lash out at his question.

“Yes,” I concede with a supreme, firm nod. “The omega, Aurora Sinclair, is my mate.”

Another round of cold, incredulous gasps fill the room, but my inner wolf only finds motivation to protect its mate when she tenses up beside me.

I feel her warmth seeping from her fingers despite holding them in mine, and I realize she truly doesn’t remember what happened when she passed out last night and woke up in a trance-like state.

She’s in disbelief right now and probably thinks I’m as crazy as the pack elders and alphas.

The only difference is that Aurora doesn’t breathe a word, leaving the room in chaos as everyone voices their concerns.

“The omega cannot be your mate!”

“You are the alpha of this pack!”

“What about the demon?”

I can hardly keep up with the questions, frustratedly raising one hand to silence the room.

“Enough!” I roar, the stern, commanding sound ricocheting off the wooden walls and echoing back to warn everyone of my predominance over them.

Like a blanket of threat covering them with uncouth, uncomfortable heat, the elders and alphas of Snehvolk purse their lips with silence washing over them, and their eyes point to me.

“Aurora Sinclair is my mate now,” I declare, my voice measured with control as I speak the solemn declaration from the depths of my werewolf’s being.

It’s that very same inherent werewolf urge that has me tightening my fingers around hers, wanting only to protect her and even claim her for the others to see.

“This is something I cannot ignore,” I continue. “Aurora has already had the psychic vision, and I was there to witness it and hear what I needed to.”

“But, Elias…” Thane, the more level-headed of the alphas, raises his hand as if to ask permission to speak.

I permit him that much with a brisk nod, and his voice is questioning when he asks, “How can we be sure that the omega is being truthful?” Thane’s eyes flicker to Aurora accusingly, and an intense wave of anger washes over me.

“What if she’s lying to save her own skin?

How is it even possible that she has the ability to get psychic visions? She’s just an omega, not an oracle.”

A rumbling growl grows in my chest, vibrating off me like a siren of white noise that comes as another warning. Thane reels back, drawing his chin to his chest remorsefully.

“I don’t care if anyone here believes me or not,” I affirm with a grunt.

“What matters is that Omega Aurora Sinclair is my mate, and her prophesy told of a child being born between us that will help us defeat the demon and end the threat once and for all. In the same breath, I hereby declare that I, Alpha Elias McGruff, will partake in an official mating ceremony with the omega and then proceed with the consummation of our mate bond. Are there any objections?” I ask irritably, huffing as if it’s my wolf that wheezes through my nostrils as I wait for anyone in the room to object.

Only Grandfather Silas stares at me despondently, wary eyes deep with concern and confusion as the rest glance between Aurora and me, growing more skeptical the tighter their brows knit.

I offer Grandfather a nod to acknowledge that this comes unexpectedly, but I know exactly what I’m doing. I have no doubts, and it’s only for him to trust my judgment and discernment on this.

“Good,” I say when I’ve allowed for sufficient time to pass, and no one chooses to question me further. I know they have a million thoughts and doubts on their minds, but I’m about to defuse those with what I say next.

Their distrustful glances at Aurora are unnerving, setting my pulse alight with the ramifications of my angry wolf.

I don’t need this—to be put on the spot as if I’m making the wrong decision. Every decision I ever make is with the Snehvolk Pack in mind, and I’m always determined to do what’s best for them.

“Since there are no objections…” I grouse, noting the wary twinkles passing their eyes despite how they keep their lips pursed.

“I will have you all know that this decision is final. No one from the Snehvolk Pack will be offered as a sacrifice to the demon, and we will proceed with the mating ceremony between Aurora and me.”

Turning to the side, I notice Aurora staring blankly at the floor, her face paling with horror and disbelief as she probably tries to make sense of what just happened.

It doesn’t matter—at least her life is spared, and she won’t attempt to flee from me again.

Soon, we’ll be bound by a ritual ceremony that will officiate our mate bond, and she’ll have nothing to worry about except carrying our child to term if the prophecy turns out to be true and she’s conceived my child.

However, her lingering dread is evident in the way she gulps, refusing to look up despite giving her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. She must be wary of the sub-alphas and the elders of the pack, who appear unsettled and wildly skeptical about my decision.

“Remember…” I begin, addressing the room while keeping my solemn gaze fixed on Aurora.

“Aurora will be this pack’s luna, and we will all serve to protect her.

” I look up and tilt my chin with a dominant air as I stare at the others.

“If anyone dares to touch her or harm her in any way, forget the demon. You will have my wrath to face.”

With a parting grunt to affirm how serious I am, I grab Aurora’s hand tighter and pull her out of the pack den.

The wooden door bangs behind me, the screeching sounding out my resolute claim once Aurora and I are outside.

The gentle flakes of snow whistling past my face bring with them crisp air that allows me to tame my inner wolf momentarily, and I take a deep breath to calm down.

“Come on,” I tell Aurora as I take her hand more firmly and pull her around the wooden structure of the den, trekking through the snow and heading in the opposite direction from her cabin on the outskirts of the town.

I can feel her question hanging in the air, caught on the tip of her tongue where she refuses to speak it, so I decide to respond anyway.

“We’re going to my place. You’ll be staying there from now on.”

***

It’s almost unbelievable to reflect on how quickly things unfolded between Aurora and me, and now she’s standing in the dining room of my home on the south side of Girdwood.

Although it’s the largest house in town, it feels awfully constricted, suffocating as I’m faced with the realization that this is the step I’ve been avoiding taking since I turned eighteen.

It’s been seventeen years since I became the leading Alpha of the Snehvolk Pack, living in the empty expanse of a home that once housed the love my parents shared.

It doesn’t feel as empty as it did since my parents died now that Aurora is here, but from the wry look of disconcertment on her face, I can tell that filling this home with a semblance of the joy it once witnessed isn’t going to be easy.

“This is the dining room,” I say as I gesture around the room. “That’s the kitchen, and there’s a guest bathroom in the corner. The library…” I point around to all the rooms on the ground floor, naming each one.

“I’ll show you to the upstairs section. You can take the guest bedroom if you want.”

All Aurora does is shrug diffidently, avidly avoiding meeting my eyes as she follows me to the leveled staircase. I shake off my trepidations, not wanting to worry myself with how she’s feeling right now.

It must be overwhelming. Things progressed pretty quickly, and just yesterday, she’d been set on running away. Now she’s meant to live in the alpha’s home, as my mate, so I can only imagine what’s going through her mind.

I’ll have to give her some time to process all of this, hoping that my efforts will help to ease her into this new position as the future luna.

I keep my eyes forward as we reach the landing upstairs, rounding the corner to lead her down the passage and to the closed door of the guest bedroom.

Once there, I unlock the door and push it inward, then step aside to gesture inside.

“You can have this bedroom,” I say with my head lowered, trying to gain control of my raging senses when my airways are hit with the potent scent of sweet jasmine.

It takes every ounce of self-control to ignore the obvious signs that to my wolf, Aurora is the most attractive she-wolf.

I can’t seem to make sense of it, but after the knotting last night, it seems pointless to put logic to a phenomenon like the fated mate bond dealt to us by the Moon Goddess Herself.

Right now, I shouldn’t be focused on what Aurora’s mere presence does to my being. I need to give her space, and now that her life was saved from becoming the sacrifice to the demon, that’s exactly—

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Aurora’s sudden exclamation catches me off guard, and I lift my head to find her glowering at me.

“Tell you what?”

She scoffs, grinding her teeth as she musters up all her irritation through her lips. “You should have told me about the vision! I don’t even believe that it happened!”

Taken aback, I’m forced to pause momentarily as I regain my thoughts from the distraction of my wolf’s attraction to her aura.

My brows furrow as I become aware that she isn’t as grateful as I thought she’d be when she crosses her arms and glares at me with a ferocity I didn’t even know she possessed.

“You don’t believe me?” I throw back with an unamused chuckle, crossing my arms and matching the furious energy she emits now. “After what I witnessed at that cave, you think it’s impossible that you would have blacked out and proceeded to have a premonition?”

Aurora pulls a face and grumbles, “Then you could have told me about it before bringing me here and using me to appease your people!”

“What good would it have been?” I ask, vexed as I throw my arms up defeatedly. “You were trying to run away, Aurora! Bringing you back was the only way I could protect you from the demon. I saved your life, remember?!”

Aurora mutters something unintelligible under her breath before snapping, “All you’re doing is using me to buy yourself time!”

“Is that what you think this is?!” I roar, taking a critical step forward when my mind screams that it’s the wrong move. Towering over her, I’m able to hear her heartbeat as if it’s my own, my eyes flicking to her heart-shaped lips that are curled with disdain.

My pulse races, my mind spinning with the recollection of what those lips felt like, what they tasted like when I had her under me. She must feel it, too—that awareness that causes her pulse to quicken as she heaves unsteady breaths and her lips part slightly.

I should just push her up against the wall and claim her lips again, to remind her what it felt like to be possessed by my domineering wolf. But her accusing voice rings out, one particular statement sticking out and blurring the tension in the air.

“All you’re doing is using me.”

Those words cut through my daze and jolt me back to reality.

She has no idea who she is to me, and she’s clearly unaware of her powers, or she would have realized that she is fated to my wolf.

I catch myself quickly, taking a cautious step back that allows me to breathe air that isn’t intoxicating. Because of everything that’s going on, her words fill me with guilt.

She thinks so little of me…

“You need to get some rest, Aurora,” I mutter as I turn my face away in shame. She must think that all of this is about the demon.

She has no idea…

“I’ll be in my room if you need me,” I say as I turn away and march down the passage until I’m in the confines of my bedroom.

Omega Aurora Sinclair believes that I’m using her to appease my pack when it couldn’t be further from the truth. Until she realizes her own powers, she’ll never recognize me as her fated mate. That’s what this is. That’s why she won’t let me in.

I’ll have to work harder. My inner wolf depends on it, restless until I have the acceptance of my fated mate.