Page 20 of The Alpha’s Forced Omega (Alaska Alpha Wolves #1)

The moment I laid eyes on Aurora, something shifted inside me. Whatever it was, I became fueled by jealousy when I saw how close she was standing to Brooks.

An irrational surge of jealousy was ignited within me, spurring my rageful steps as I marched forward and, without thinking, grabbed Brooks’s collar and shoved him against the nearest solid frame.

Glaring into his eyes now, my fury is reflected in the dubious gray pools of his eyes even as he frowns.

“What are you doing, Elias?” Brooks asks, bewildered, gulping as I have a fist curled at his throat.

“You’re asking me what I’m doing?!” I spit venomously. “What were you doing with Aurora?!”

Brooks’s eyes turn wildly addled as he stares at me with confusion. He opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates when I tighten my grip on his collar.

At the back of my mind, I know there isn’t anything going on between them. How could there be? Brooks is the only one who disagrees with me taking Aurora as my mate.

Unless there was another reason for his grievance.

Was he attracted to the omega before I came along and swooped her up as my own mate?

The thought alone has my anger bubbling, my blood boiling as it rages through my veins and fills me with more reason to fight my subordinate. Just because he’s only one rank below me, it gives him no right to take what’s mine.

The sudden bout of jealousy is heightened by my territorial nature, even if Brooks is one of us.

“You-you're mistaken, Elias…” he croaks against the discomfort of my constricting fist. “It—it’s not what it l—looks like.”

“Don’t give me that!” I spit in his face, red-hot anger fueling the guttural growl I let out. “I know what I saw! I warned you to leave her alone!”

Brooks grunts in response, a frustrated, wrangled sigh caught in his throat as he drops his eyes.

“If you don’t let me go, you’ll give me no choice but to fight you,” he says in a flat tone.

I slam Brooks against the frame, then release him to take a step back, throwing my arms out to the sides.

“Fight me, then,” I challenge. “You forget who you’re speaking to.”

Brooks grunts as he shrugs to straighten up, preparing for a fight. I curl my hands into fists of fury, growling lowly and peeling my lips back to snarl and hiss at my opponent.

“You’re making a mistake, Elias,” Brooks warns.

Chuckling sadistically, I point my narrowed glare at him. “I don’t make—”

“Wait!” Aurora’s frail voice yelps from behind me before she comes rushing forward in a flurry of hot pants, stepping between Brooks and me and turning to face me. She looks up with consoling eyes, warily knitted brows, and chest heaving uncontrollably.

“It’s not what it looks like, Elias,” she protests with urgency in her voice. “Brooks was only helping me get rid of some bullies. I was trying to thank him.”

I narrow my eyes at Aurora, the brooding anger seeping into the air between us. “How were you planning on thanking him?” I grate through gritted teeth, my nostrils flaring as I blow out hot air of fury. “Tell me, Aurora! How—”

Aurora interjects by abruptly grabbing my arm, grunting irritably as she uses every ounce of strength she has to tug me forward and pull me out of the town square area.

My brows furrow deeply as I stare at the back of her head, not sure why I’m even allowing her to pull me toward the cabin near the woods.

She stomps furiously against the snow, huffing and puffing on her way to the cabin’s porch. She uses all her might to kick in the door before dragging me further, and only once inside, she sighs frustratedly and releases my arm with a deliberate toss.

“What has gotten into you?!” she exclaims accusingly, her brown eyes darkening like jets of vexation. “You were about to fight your friend out there!”

I scoff disdainfully, taking a warning step forward.

Though it’s just Aurora and me now, I’m still filled with thunderous anger that sets my blood on fire.

“What’s gotten into me ?!” I grumble as I glare into her eyes.

Between the forage of brown, I see the crimson fire of my anger being reflected back to me.

“You were the one trying to seduce my friend!” I spat the accusation, to which Aurora rolled her eyes with an exasperated grunt.

“I wasn’t trying to seduce Brooks! I told you already, he helped me fend off some bullies, and all I was doing was thanking—gah!” Aurora shrieks suddenly, keeling over and hugging both arms around her waist.

Quickly realizing that she’s in pain when her face contorts, I snap out of this vile, angered state I’m in, pushing aside my furious jealousy as I rush forward and place my hands on her shoulders.

“What’s happening, Aurora? Is it the baby? Are you alright?”

Aurora turns her face slowly, mumbling a string of curses under her breath, her eyes jetted pools of outrage. Without warning, she slams a tiny fist into my ribcage, sending me reeling back with confusion furrowing my brows.

Before I can question her motive for the misplaced act of violence, she yelps in pain again, this time rebuking my attempt to help her with one hand in my face.

“Of course I’m fine!” she yells out. “Just leave me alone!”

“No!” I snap back, my protectiveness over Aurora outweighing any other emotion.

Overcome with empathy, I ignore her dismissive waves as she protests against my arms closing around her.

Lifting her off her feet and cradling her to my chest, our eyes meet for a short second, and realization stops me halfway to the bedroom door.

It’s no wonder I’d been behaving so manic and erratic. Even Aurora must feel it, because her lips part on a faint gasp, her eyes softening and turning lighter.

“You’re in heat…” I whisper, my voice turning softer along with every bone in my body, except for one muscle that suddenly grows with awareness and the blood that rushes to my core.

Aurora averts her gaze, a blush crawling on her cheeks as she purses her lips.

That’s why I was fuming about catching her with Brooks.

My jealousy was only justified by the rut that’s been sparked by the she-wolf’s heat.

It’s a frenzy of aggression that only comes about twice a year, but the last time it happened, I was able to control it because Aurora and I weren’t mated yet.

Now that she’s my mate, my wolf has become so attuned to her that it awakens its need to release in a way that I’ve never experienced before. It’s so intense that it has me acting on impulses despite Aurora’s inhibitions.

“Put me down, Elias,” she whispers bluntly.

“I’m not doing that,” I disapprove with a snort as I continue heading to the bedroom. “You’re in pain, and you need to lie down.”

“I have legs to carry me there.”

“Which you don’t need to use as long as I’m here,” I huff as I enter the bedroom, carrying her to the bed where I lay her down gently.

My heart is racing right now, my inner wolf wanting desperately to ease its mate's discomfort.

As much as she tries fighting it, it's evident to see that she’s in grave pain, wincing and flinching as she adjusts herself on the bed.

Straightening up, I stare remorsefully at Aurora, not being able to fathom what she’s going through since a she-wolf’s heat is unlike a male werewolf’s rutting cycle.

Where a male feels the aggression and displays belligerent behavior because his testosterone levels are high, a female’s pain threshold is triggered, and she suffers almost as much as she does during birth.

My heart swells empathetically for Aurora, and I have to do something. But not without her consent. She’ll hate me for acting on my impulsive behavior, which hasn’t gotten me far with her.

“I know how to help you, Aurora.”

“I don’t need your help,” she snaps bitterly, turning her face away and prompting me to sigh as I take a careful seat beside her.

“I’m the only one who can take your pain away. You’ve felt it before,” I insist. “Please, let me do this for you.”

I see her hesitation as she parts her lips and then quickly presses them shut. She turns her face slowly, a wary look in her eyes as she seems mildly curious.

“For me?”

I nod slowly and cautiously, as I shift closer to her on the bed. “Only for you. I don’t want anything from this. It’s only to alleviate your pain.”

Aurora gulps before nodding her head slowly with consent, allowing me to move in and close the distance between us.

As much as I want to taste her, my lips tingling with the need for both our lips to collide in a kiss, I hold myself back only to show her that this is strictly to help her through her heat.