Librairie

Rechercher

Accueil / Werewolf / The Tyrant alpha / Chapitre 321 - Chapitre 330

Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 321 - Chapitre 330

486

319

I grunt. He gets that expression. That “just take a look, let me know what you think” expression that ends up costing me two weeks’ unpaid labor and a few hundred bucks in parts.Shit.He claps me on the back. He packs a wallop. “I’ll have to talk to my alpha, but I think we can make room for y’all for a spell.”“Your alpha’s that kid Cadoc Collins?”“More or less.”“What’s that mean?” I’m not letting Flora anywhere near a pack during the middle of an alpha challenge. No way in hell.“I mean, he is, but us scavengers bend the neck more to Rosie’s wolf than to him, but they’re mates, so, you know, potato, po-tah-to.”“What’s up with Rosie’s wolf?”“She’s a beast, man. Massive.”I nod. It’s good for a female to have a big wolf. If you don’t have the killer instinct, size is a good advantage to have.For whatever reason, my gaze shifts to Flora’s ass. She’s hustling now, like she’s excited to get where she’s going, so it’s swishing back and forth, bouncing with each step. I want to bite

320

My wolf relaxes, dropping all her wariness, and she begins to prance and dash, whining for me to let her out to explore. There are amazing scents in here. Fresh water and cool earth and mellow sunshine, and layers upon layers of wolf. Old wolf. Ancestor wolf.I look up at Alec. I don’t know why.He’s already looking down at me, his face stern as usual, but I see his wolf in his eyes. He wants to dash around and roll on his back and poke his nose in corners, too.I smile.A flicker of something like pain flashes in those dark eyes, and it’s not his wolf. It’s gone in a split second. I don’t have a chance to wonder at it before a voice calls “ho!” and boots stomp in the entrance tunnel.Alec pushes me behind him as he pivots toward the sound.Two familiar males stride into the cavern. Well, one strides. The other struts, kind of like that cartoon tiger with the bouncy ears and the long chin. The striding one is Seth Rosser, Cadoc Collin’s right hand. The strutting, bouncy one is Bevan N

321

He grabs my hands, one of mine in each of his, and pushes me backward toward the entrance tunnel.I’m too stuck between fight, flight, and freeze to do anything but follow his lead. It feels like what we did in Human Sport during the square-dancing unit. I never understood how dancing was a sport since no one wins, but as Alec maneuvers me into an alcove, hidden from the larger cavern, and he backs me against the cold wall, I get it—he definitely has the upper hand.He leans down and presses our foreheads together, hard, splaying his hand over my heart like he’s staunching a wound.“No, Flora. Stop. You don’t feel hurt. I fucked up. I was wrong. I’m the asshole. You don’t feel bad about that.” Alpha tinges his voice, and every sentence is domineering and brusque, an apology without the slightest hint of sorriness.He’s trying to command my feelings.He walked away from a fight. Salt Mountain males never do that.He’s pinning me to this wall with his whole body like he doesn’t want to

322

It’s Pritchard who breaks the silence, slapping his thighs. “All right, Cameron, since you’re here, and since we’ve got to wait for Cadoc and Rosie to come back before anything gets decided, you might as well come with me and take a look at the demon clog from hell. See what you think.”Alec winces at “demon clog.”“I’ll show Flora around,” Nia offers quickly.Alec glances over and checks with me. I lift a shoulder. A tender, scared, weak part of myself doesn’t want to let go of his hand, but I need to get things back on track. I came here for me, to find myself a new home. I can’t lose track of that. Alec isn’t on my side.He’s proud to be seen with me now, in a strange pack, when he has no choice but to claim me if he wants his pup. I can’t let a kiss erase years of hiding me like a dirty secret or sucker me into forgetting everything that happened before he caught up to me on the trail here.I drop his hand and go to Nia. “I’d like that,” I say, offering her a tentative smile.I le

323

I didn’t mind it so much. I’d explore the ravine behind my aunt’s house, build play houses out of stones and logs, weave flowers into necklaces and crowns. If it was lonely, at least there was no one to make critical remarks. I mourned the freedom and peacefulness when I got old enough to go to school.“These dens are for mated pairs.” Nia gestures to the openings along the tunnel covered with beaded curtains or bedsheets hanging from tension rods. “We’ve run out, so there’s a waiting list while we dig out more.” She says it like it’s pertinent information.“Oh. Alec and I aren’t really mated.” I instinctually cover my bite mark with my hand.Nia nods, not at all thrown. “Pritchard and me neither.”She must read my curiosity. “Fate doesn’t get to decide who I share my life with. I decide.”Yeah. I give her a smile. We both know it’s not entirely true, it can’t be, what with heat and rut, but still, even if you don’t get every choice, you don’t have to give up all of them. I get that.

324

“Back home, he runs the crew that fixes things. He’s good at that.”Nia’s nod is a little more speculative this time.“He doesn’t get into fights or beat on people.” He cracks skulls when the males play sports, but he doesn’t throw his weight around at other times like Bram and Leith do.“You ever consider that your standards are low?” Nia raises her palms and flashes a disarming smile. “No offense. We’re working on raising our own standards around here on the daily. But if the best you can say for a guy is that he works hard and doesn’t beat on people, that’s not much, right?”I know she doesn’t mean to be unkind, but still, my hackles rise. I didn’t even know I had hackles. “Well, he killed a feral for me.”“No shit.” Nia’s whole demeanor changes, her eyes lighting. “How’d he do it? By himself? No shit. Where were you? Oh my god, did you know it?”I tell her, and by the time I’m done, my hackles are rising for a whole other reason. Nia keeps shaking her head and saying, “Damn, what

325

“I’ve got to, uh—” He jerks his head toward the hustle and bustle over by the den’s entrance. “Make my escape before I, uh, talk too much and totally ruin my chances.”He ducks his shaggy head and smiles up at me, both sheepish and serious, and I’m slack-jawed. He gives me a weird salute, pivots on his heels, and bounds off for a large group gathering on the far side of the cavern. It looks like they’re stripping off for a run, even though it’s only late afternoon and nowhere near the full moon.I quickly drop my eyes before I see Bevan drop his pants, the corners of my lips sneaking up.A male thinks I’m beautiful.He really, seriously does.The chaser comes fast and bitter.That means I am not totally, utterly repulsive. Right?The reality is that I’m gross. Tragically or unfortunately or shamefully or inexcusably—opinions differ—but the truth is irrefutable. Like bog worms and vomit and pus, my body is objectively disgusting.Right?But Bevan likes it. And Alec too. All along, Alec

326

He really isn’t a talker. I’m quiet, too, but it’s more because that’s what’s expected of me. If no one better’s around at the laundry, I’m the listener, and if a higher ranking packmate shows, I’m supposed to fade away into the background. Only Miss Nola’s interested in what I have to say, so I’ve become accustomed to just thinking my thoughts.Folks listen when Alec talks, but he rarely does. He doesn’t deign to. Or does he suck at it?I smile to myself. Oh yeah, he sucks at it. The only time he seems comfortable with words is when we’re alone, and he’s growling orders. Orders? Or requests? I can replay things he’s said to me in the heat of the moment, word for word, but for the life of me I can’t be sure of the tone anymore.I heard them as demands. Because I saw him as the one in control and myself as—well—as the one on her knees.What if I read it wrong?The sound of Alec’s bare feet hurrying back to me on the stone floor distracts me from my thoughts. He’s got a big terry cloth

327

Except for when we’re touching each other.Then he’s too caught up to be uptight. Too honed in.Because he thinks I’m beautiful, too?I clear my throat. Softly. Alec straightens. I imagine him glaring into the middle distance, thinking grumpy, disdainful thoughts about fluid dynamics.I clear my throat again. Louder.“Do you need the towel already?” he asks without turning.“I haven’t washed my hair yet,” I say. And then, without thought or plan, I hear myself ask, “Will you do it for me?”My lungs catch and then suck down the breath to speak while my brain scrambles for the words to say to take it back. Never mind. I don’t know what I’m thinking. Bad idea.Alec grunts and tosses the towel onto the bank of the mossy little island. “Hand me the soap,” he says.Well, there’s no getting out of it now.I hold out the net bag. He takes it. I paddle in a circle until my back is to him. He kneels.“Lean back,” he says, his voice deep. Deep and pleased.I do, swishing my hair back and forth u

328

He fetches my towel, and after I wind it around myself, he hovers as I pick my way back to the ledge. Then he stands guard, blocking me from view while I dress. He tugs on his sweatpants over his wet legs while I comb my clean hair with my fingers, tie it back into a ponytail, and clip a rabbit barrette above each ear.As a cacophony of feet sound in the entrance tunnel and the Old Den pack spills into the cave, loud and happy from their run, Alec draws me close. He peers down at me and adjusts each rabbit a bit with the tip of his finger.“You miss Harriet?” he asks.“Hey, you remembered her name.” I smile up at him, teasing, but his eyes are dark and worried and waiting for an answer. “Yeah. Of course. She’s been a good friend.”He nods, and then I hear Pritchard call, “Cameron, come over here and meet the alpha.”The change is instantaneous and so subtle that I almost don’t notice. The dark in Alec’s eyes that has been swirling with feeling becomes cold and impenetrable. The tensio

Dernier

...

...

Suivant

Scanner le code pour lire sur l'application

DMCA.com Protection Status