188- Between the Beast and the Alpha
POV Aldren Valmorin:
Suddenly, her eyes flashed storm-blue, and her frightened posture was replaced by her hands gripping the bars as she stared at me with determination.
Was that her creature taking control?
Impossible. She hadn’t gone through her first transformation yet.
“I didn’t want anything in return, J-a-x.” Her words sounded like a challenge.
“Oh no? Just a bitch in heat, wanting to fuck the first one who shows up? Is that what you want?”
“And if it is, Aldren? What’s the sin in killing what’s killing me?”
Elowen had no idea who she was dealing with. She truly didn’t. Before I could think about releasing pheromones against her, my beast marked territory, intoxicating her with us.
Her heat punished me, but my pheromone would turn her life into a living hell. She would beg for relief the way one begs for life when facing mortal danger.
Feeling the effects, her mouth slowly parted and her eyes closed for a few seconds. When she opened them again, she arched her back and stared at me, panting with lust.
That sight fucked me completely.
Suddenly, there was only the two of us and the promise that, if I didn’t leave immediately, I would soon be mounting her like an animal.
My muscles doubled in size, and my cock throbbed inside my pants. I let out a growl that made her purr at me.
Hell.
That sound drove me insane.
“Stop! Who are you really? What did you come here for?” I roared, on the verge of losing control.
“The only thing I want right now is to satisfy myself with a strong, virile alpha like you…” she said, moaning like the bitch in heat that she was.
Wretch. I didn’t respond; I only fought not to ruin everything.
I watched, utterly disbelieving, as she lay back on the floor, spread her legs, and slid a hand between them.
She wouldn’t dare… She did.
She dragged her panties aside, exposing her pussy gleaming with wetness, and touched herself right in front of me. Fuck—I could see her pulse.
With her eyes locked on mine, her mouth remained parted, and she was audacious enough to moan my name.
“Do you want to lose your virginity inside a cage, you filthy bitch?”
She smiled out of the corner of her lips.
“And who said I’m a virgin?” she confessed, panting as she touched her dripping pussy.
I lunged at the bars, and the structure shook under my strength. Like a double-edged blade, my beast longed to break everything and reach her, while I braced myself not to let it take over.
I watched her intently, rocking her hips and grinding against her own fingers until she reached her peak. I knew better than anyone the effects of heat, and I knew that without a male, nothing she did alone would relieve her enough.
“You want me,” she whispered, arching her back on the floor and looking at my pants. “Come in here, Aldren. Fuck me.” Her voice sounded like a spell, sending a spine-splitting shiver through me.
My beast clawed at the walls of my sanity, demanding to be unleashed, but I refused to be weak in that way. I refused to give it what it wanted.
Even though everything in me leaned toward entering that cage to fuck that bitch, to suck and bite that entire body throughout her heat, I could not give in.
I dragged control up from the depths of my core to say what I needed to say, to push her away.
“You know when I’ll touch a filthy bitch like you, Elowen? Never.”
…
Inside the walls of my house, among the palm trees, I filled Teneris’s pussy with cum.
I was not satisfied. It wasn’t what I or my beast desired, but it was what we had in that moment.
She arched her ass, bracing herself against the trunk, and one of my hands covered her mouth. With the other, I wrapped a fistful of her hair around my hand and pulled her back, leaving a bite of frustration on her neck.
She loved it and drenched my cock from cumming so much, but I always licked the mark until it faded. Teneris was not worthy of it.
“Why here…?” she asked when I withdrew from her, wiped my cock on her ass, and lowered her dress.
“You didn’t like it?”
“I loved it, Aldren—especially because it’s just the two of us.”
She turned to face me, looking at me with complete devotion.
Little did she know I had fucked her alone only because Victor hadn’t found Nala. My order had been to summon both of them. I knew the only time they enjoyed each other’s presence was when they joined forces to satisfy me.
“Go inside and clean yourself.”
“Can I use your bathroom?”
“No.” The last thing I needed was for her to find Elowen there—too much trouble for one night. I owed her no explanations, but I knew she would ask unwanted questions.
“I’ll use the washroom, then.”
I nodded in agreement and let her go.
I straightened my clothes before looking for my guards and ordering them to rotate the watch at Kehin’s cage. He would have the strength to break the bars, while the bitch would never manage to damage the new structure she was in, made of high-alloy steel—nearly indestructible.
With my head full, yet masking everything that troubled me from the eyes of others, I returned to my gathering.
I felt the weight of being alpha the moment Kehin’s grandmother approached me, her sagging cheeks marked by time and her frail body weakened by her 495 years.
Shapeshifters entered a rapid aging stage upon reaching 480. Of our kind, only the rare supreme alphas lived up to 700 years.
“Have you seen Kehin, my son?” she asked in a faltering voice, touching my shoulder.
Sadness was not a feeling I was accustomed to dealing with constantly. Looking at that woman, for whom I held such affection—the only hybrid I allowed to remain in the village after the massacre—I discovered a weakness in my unshakable soul.
“No, I haven’t seen him yet. He must be handling important matters.” I hated having to lie.
“I’ll go home then, my son. I’m tired.”
I clenched my teeth, trying to stop the wave of discouragement and fury that struck me.
“Alone? No, Mrs. Korlina.” It was a considerable distance from where we were to the housing area.
“Don’t worry, it’s safe here.” She softened, smiling on her pale face.
I signaled to one of my men near the bonfire and ordered him to escort her. As if my inner anguish weren’t enough, Korlina kissed the back of my hand in farewell. That simple contact burned my skin.
The cause of the discomfort had a name: damned remorse.
Remorse for what I knew I needed to do, but which my human side—almost never dominant—tried to restrain me from.
Where did the man end and the beast begin?
And once again, I ran into something impossible to ignore:
What example would I be setting for Victor and Serpentino? The example that it was acceptable to betray me because I might forgive?
I considered them friends too; we were close when they were off duty. That was why they worked inside my house. They ate at my table and counted on my protection, just as I counted on theirs.
I forced my mind to change course, focusing on my gathered people and other conversations.
For a few more hours—while the celebration lasted—I would escape doing what needed to be done. I would escape the cruel part of being who I was.
I walked among my people, talking with all the groups. I liked hearing about their new learnings and plans for the future. Those who had permission to go to the city because they were of age always brought me news.
At last, I sat at the main table with twenty chairs, set apart from the bonfire, and forced myself to eat at least a little, even though remorse churned my stomach. Most preferred to eat standing or on benches around the fire.
A single female, admitted to Valmorin about eight years earlier, asked my permission and sat beside me. Her wild red hair fell majestically around her long, freckled face.