Closeted in the Alpha’s bedroom later, Nell was astounded when he proposed watching a movie.“Disappointed?”The taunt was more like it, yet she sensed he was going through the motions.“Whyever would you think that?” she replied.It made Liam laugh.“I told you, today is all about you.”“Well, you could have fooled me. Where exactly are my panties?”“Don’t remind me,” he groaned. “If we weren’t on the verge of winter, I might have suggested a picnic.”“Pretending to be a romantic? Well, I’m not fooled.”“Careful, Nell,” he growled. “I’m still the Alpha.”“Do you think there will be any other interruptions?”“Invading my personal time once was bad enough. Twice would be unforgivable.”“Can I have a bath?” she asked.“Avoiding me already?”“Not especially. I just feel – used.”“That wasn’t my intention, Nell.”“I know,” she said. “Liam, I never expected to feel like that. In some ways, it was frightening.”“You’re not a virgin, surely?”She wasn’t sure whether to be offended, or not. “
Liam hadn’t expected Nell’s seductive request to affect him so much. If it had been just another she-wolf saying it, maybe he would have been able to brush it aside. It touched him that she wanted this and was able to express her feelings so readily, given their rocky beginning. He laid her down on the freshly laundered sheets beneath the duvet and stripped away the towel. Though he’d not even made it to bed last night, he hadn’t been anticipating this. Stripping off his pants and losing his boxers, he climbed in beside her and began to kiss her while one hand wandered almost lazily to a breast. She arched up with a gasp. Nell was sensitive in so many different places and he was looking forward to discovering all of them. “You feel so good,” he told her, his mouth leaving hers and seeking out a puckered nipple. “Liam!” she cried, thrashing her head from side to side. Already? Was this the human part of her or, as he was beginning to suspect, something else? “Touch me,” he said.
Nell was in Alpha Liam’s office when he took a call on his mobile which sent him into a funk. She hadn’t been forced to face anyone yet but knew it was only a matter of time. Her sister had brought her a change of clothes and underwear though she hadn’t seen Olivia, only heard the unmistakably flirtatious tone in her voice. She was glad of the wrapper since she spent a lot of time lounging on the couch. No she-wolves were allowed now, unless they came on pack business. In some ways she felt like a pet. His pet elf. “Leave me.” The commanding tone wasn’t a shocker so much as the words themselves. “Now, Liam?” It took only that for him to come to his senses. “I forgot, you can’t, can you? How’s the headache?” “Improving.” She reflected it was a good thing he had an ‘executive’ toilet just off the business room itself, though the feelings of sickness had long since disappeared. Having to dash out into the corridor, past the know-all guard, wouldn’t have been a pleasant experience
It started off conventionally – in typical fashion – at first. Or so Holly confided later when they discussed the day’s events over mulled wine in her bedroom, a place Nell had been banished to without any rhyme or reason. She spared a thought for Liam, who must be feeling something similar to her: displacement. But Nell didn’t want to examine that too closely right then. Did amnesia make a person heartless? she wondered. “That girl’s kooky, to say the least. Did you see the way she was clinging to, well, the other one?” “You mean the true Alpha?” There was no point pussyfooting around it, Simon was back from the dead and throwing his weight around as if he’d never been away. His first words to her had been insulting. Thankfully, Liam was out of earshot. “I’ve never fucked an elf. Tell me, how do you feel about doggy-style? You are the Alpha’s slave, aren’t you? Well, I’m back now, and it’s me you have to please. Remember that, hybrid.” Simon wasn’t as tall as Liam and she coul
Nell heard all the yelling well before Alpha Liam burst into Holly’s bedroom, dragging a red-faced Olivia by the hair.“Guess what she’s been up to?” he snarled.“Liam?”“Not in public,” he said.She tried not to let her indignation show. “I wanted to be certain it was you.”“Is Fallon okay?”Trust Holly. She had a good heart, despite acting a little young for her age.“No thanks to this one. She was drinking vodka straight from the bottle. I am willing to bet she would have put some in Fallon’s formula if it meant an easy life.”“Wasn’t someone meant to stay with her? Not Deborah, she does enough caring as it is.”“Whoever left her unsupervised will face my wrath followed by my fist, not necessarily in that order.”“Liv, what were you thinking? You could do irreparable harm to your unborn child.”“I know. I’m a mess. It’s Henry’s fault. He dumped me.”“Then you should have said something.”“He was the one supervising me. We had a row, and … ”Out of her eye corner, Nell could see Alp
Liam’s first instinct was to protect Nell. He pushed her behind him and waited in case whoever had fired the shot used the double doors in front of them to exit the hall. It wouldn’t have been his choice, but then he wasn’t the maniac with a gun. And what were security thinking?It wouldn’t have happened on his watch.That thought gave him scant comfort. Incidents like this could ruin a host pack’s reputation and see them blacklisted, maybe even ostracised. It was something he had worked hard to combat when he took over as Alpha.“You don’t think it could be an intruder, do you?” Nell asked.“Unlikely,” he said.“I mean, what if Josh, my ex, and presumably the father of Liv’s child has come looking for her?”“Then he’s either totally stupid or has a death wish. No, I reckon this is one of our pack members and you can have as many guesses as you like.”“Oh no, you don’t mean this is something Simon’s thought up, possibly as a prank?”He’d noticed that about her before, how quick on the
So, his secret was out now. Liam felt for Nell. She must be more confused than ever. In contrast, he felt even closer to her, which didn’t explain why he’d started to act like the Alpha she knew of old again.When she woke up in his bed, disorientated and satisfyingly – to him – naked, he took full advantage, telling himself he was only attempting to take her mind off things. Her resistance soon melted, as he had suspected, and he hauled her on top of him wanting to try something new. At least, with her.The hybrid he was now convinced was better than a mate didn’t object. She was a quick learner and soon he had to cover her mouth. Simon wasn’t too far away and, for once, he was likely to be waking up alone. There was no way he would share Nell, even though he hadn’t scrupled to join in threesomes in the past.Thankfully, the Far Hills pack had decided not to press charges, given the way Doc Troy – what was his surname? He could never recall it – had treated Rae. They would be heading
To say Nell was shocked was an understatement. Her next instinct was to be mad with Liam. How could he put her in this position? Was there method in his madness? Probably, but it made no sense. Even if he won the majority of the games, she knew Simon would never give up.“Where are you going?”“To the bathroom,” she said.It was a spur of the moment decision, because she couldn’t bear the tension in the room.“Not desperate are you? Sit.”“I don’t answer to you, Alpha Simon.”He raised his head and the aura of dominance was too much. It didn’t quite frighten her but all at once she wanted to bare her neck in submission. That was a chemical reaction Troy had discussed with her at length. He was clued up on the theory of werewolf hierarchy but was unlikely to be on the receiving end as she was now.Nell pretended to be examining the state of her fingernails. Liam didn’t have this all-consuming effect on her. She didn’t like it one bit.“Well?”In the end, she gave in, sitting next to Li