Alpha Loren

ELLA

OCTOBER 11

“Oh, sweetheart. You thought you could run?” Leonardo snarled.

“Get the fuck off me.”

I nearly had the freedom I craved, but he’d crushed all my hopes. As a result, there was spite in my tone.

He grabbed my chin and yanked my face to look at him. “Watch your mouth,” he said.

There it was again. The way he spoke made me loathe his existence.

“Fuck. You,” I said.

His hand interrupted me by snapping at my neck. He held a firm grip; not suffocating, but a move of dominance.

“Are you trying to provoke me?” he snarled in my ear. “Because trust me, darling, you do not want to see me at my worst.”

He was probably right.

“Now, tell me where Luca is,” he ordered, looking deep into my eyes as his hand remained around my throat.

I bit my cheek and glanced away, refusing to answer.

His grip tightened, and I had to bring my hands to his fingers and try to prize myself free.

“Spit it out, woman. I will find out. The longer I have to wait for answers, the more likely I am to rip his head off for leaving you unattended.”

“He’s escorting my brother to the edge of the pack territory.”

“Your brother? He should watch whose land he’s stepping on or he might find himself in a dangerous situation.”

He released my throat, but his weight was crushing my legs.

I winced and his eyes flickered down. “What?”

“You’re hurting me.”

He brought his lips to my ear and snarled. “Never dare run from me again. You belong to me now, and you will accept that.” He then pulled me up and held my wrist in a firm grip.

At that point, his phone rang. “It’s Luca,” he said, letting go of me to answer it. “Stay.”

I folded my arms as he brought the phone to his ear.

“Ah, Luca, just the man I wanted to talk to. Please, explain why I found my mate running through the forest alone?” he growled.

As Leonardo spoke to Luca, I looked at the empty forest around me.

“Why would you even consider leaving her alone? I haven’t claimed her yet, so the bond is not solidified,” I heard Leonardo say.

With that, my heart leaped in fear, and on pure instinct, I turned on my heel and sprinted.

I got one meter, two if you want to be generous, before Leonardo’s arm projected in front of me, caught me by the waist, and lifted me into the air.

“What a feeble attempt. You are so desperate.”

“It was worth a try,” I mumbled, as he carried me, still on the phone to Luca.

With the discomfort of his forearm pressing against my stomach, I squirmed.

I had no idea how he was holding me with only one arm, but he soon finished talking to Luca and he threw me over his shoulder.

“I have a cage in my cellar, and some handcuffs and rope,” he said in a low, husky grumble. “If this becomes a habit, there are things I can and will do.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“If it will stop you from hopelessly trying to escape, then yes. I am. I knew I should have marked you the moment I saved you in the woods.”

“I’m sorry, ‘saved’ me?” I asked. “Last time I checked, you kidnapped me.”

“You can’t hang around my border for long before you stumble across some danger. And what do you think my men would have done if it was them to find you, not me, huh?”

“So, you saved me from your own men. What do you want? A gold star?”

“That’s no way to thank your knight in shining armor.”

“More like nincompoop in tinfoil.”

“Don’t push it, I really do have a cage in my cellar.”

***

Leonardo set me down on the bed before crouching down to my level with a stern expression.

“What?” I scoffed. “You remind me of my dad when I was a kid and misbehaved.”

His raised eyebrow lowered and a dirty grin crept onto his lips. “Oh yeah? And what punishment did your daddy used to give you when you were naughty?”

I screwed my face up with a level of cringe that even my seventh-grade self couldn’t have managed. “Oh, Goddess, please don’t say that.”

He mused at my embarrassment before his face hardened again.

“What are you going to say now? That you’re not angry, just disappointed?”

“Oh, I am fucking angry,” he replied. “And all this bullshit ends now.” I stared into his eyes for a few moments before his hand shot forward and grabbed my face. “Now.”

“Or what, Leonardo?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. “What are you going to do?”

The room filled with a deadly silence as I stared at him, examining his face. It was terrifying, but if he was going to hurt me, he would have already.

“What did you say?” he asked as he stood up, towering over me.

I looked up at him. “You aren’t going to hurt me.”

Squeezing my cheeks in his hand, he shoved my head back before sauntering over to the window.

He glanced out and sighed. “Well, let’s see. It’s quite a walk from here to the border, meaning that by my calculations, your brother will still be on my territory…with Luca. Just one call away.”

I got to my feet. “You wouldn’t…”

He turned to reveal an evil smile. “Oh, I would,” he said. “Don’t underestimate the lengths I will go to get what I want, sweetheart.”

“You have a dark soul,” I replied with as much spite as I could muster.

He shrugged. “So, what’s it gonna be? Lose the attitude or lose your brother.”

I stared at him for a few seconds to be sure he was one hundred percent serious before closing my eyes. “Don’t make me say it.”

“So long as we both know, I don’t care if you admit it aloud,” he said. “But come here.”

I dragged myself over to him.

“Not hard, is it?” he said, putting his hands on either side of my face. “Submitting?”

I swallowed a lump of pride sitting in my throat and let him look at me as I glanced out the window.

“Your wolf doesn’t mind it,” he replied. “She wants to please me. I can sense it.” His hand slipped down to my ass and I stepped back.

“What?” he said with a laugh. “You think you can stand there wearing my underwear with no advance?”

My cheeks flushed. I’d completely forgotten I’d been wearing his boxer shorts this entire time.

He grabbed my hands and pulled me back into his chest, resting one hand on my lower back as he braced my head with the other.

His eyes fixated on my lips and my stomach leaped and fluttered.

Our chests pressed together, his warmth seeping through his shirt, and even his hand, as it crept back down to my ass, was giving me shivers.

I closed my eyes, trying to shake him from my mind, but being in his grasp was too intense and when he leaned forward, his lips millimeters from mine, my wolf howled in excitement.

His forehead rested on mine, and after a few more insanely tense moments, he pushed our lips together.

It was the most amazing sensation.

His lips were so warm and soft, but his kiss was so passionate and rough as he held my head tight in his hand. There was no escape, but this time I didn’t mind.

No amount of pride and moral conscience could resist the instinct to kiss him back.

But as soon as he pulled away for a brief second, reality kicked in. I looked into his icy eyes and my stomach churned.

Get a grip, Ella. Why would you let him do that? You kissed a murderer and the man who has dragged you away from everyone you love.

Before he encapsulated me in his kiss again and fogged my judgment with bliss, I shoved his chest hard.

“Don’t fucking kiss me.”

He hardly moved, even though I’d put my entire body weight into the shove, then he grabbed me, spun me around, and pushed me against the wall.

He pressed his body against mine and kissed me again before I could stop him. He held my head with one and my hip with the other, preventing me from moving, as he continued.

The sparks and electricity were back in full swing and my lips, almost on instinct, moved in sync with his.

For a second, he pulled back, leaving me lurching forward after his lips, letting out a slight whimper.

He grinned before trailing kisses down my neck to the spot I should bear his mark.

“Stop,” I whispered.

“You don’t want me to stop,” he replied.

As his lips reached the spot, my back arched, and I grabbed his shoulders, looking for anything to squeeze for the intensity.

I couldn’t hide the effect he had on me as I dragged my nails down his back. I was breathless as stars appeared in front of my eyes and my vision went blurry as his kiss delved deeper and deeper.

He pulled away.

My face flushed and my pulse pounded as I swallowed and caught my breath.

“Never try to escape again, or I will lock you up until you can’t remember your name. Understand?” he growled.

Unable to speak, I nodded.

“Good girl,” he said.

His eyes fell back down to my bare neck before he had to drag them away. He took his hands off my body, stepped back, and turned, so I slid down the wall.

I brought my fingers to my lips where he had pressed. I could still taste the moisture he had left. It was so sweet and silken, like the honey of a thousand bees.

But no matter how heavenly, it was still him.

I closed my eyes and held my breath, forcing my hand back down. But in the darkness, my mind replayed the moment.

I watched for a while, enjoying every second once again. But the more I thought about it, the more drawn to him I was.

The more likely I was to go downstairs for more.

Something about the way he kissed that spot on my neck made me want to give in and…submit? To stay with him forever and to never consider escaping again.

Maybe that’s what he meant by solidifying our bond.

But I vowed to my father and myself that I would never let a man control me. He taught me to have more respect for myself than this, and that was something I lived by.

So, I don’t think so, Mr. Italian. You haven’t won.

I opened my eyes, escaping the images, and marched to the bathroom to wash away the sin in the shower. When I finished, I found two neat piles of clothes on top of the toilet.

One was my dress and cardigan from the previous night, and the other was a clean shirt and a pair of boxers.

The envelope.

I checked the pocket of my cardigan where I had left it, but it wasn’t there. Where had it gone?

I wasn’t happy with it, but I had a place to live now. Connor didn’t. I couldn’t let Logan kick him off Cerridwen territory.

I changed into the clothes and opened the bathroom door.

Leonardo was sitting at the end of the bed. He looked up at me with a plastered smile.

“Have you seen a gold envelope?” I asked him.

“This?” he said, holding up the shiny paper.

I nodded, holding my hand out to take it as my heartbeat skyrocketed. “What is it?” he questioned.

The seal was still closed. Thank the goddesses.

“A letter from the future alpha of Cerridwen,” I told him. “He doesn’t like me, and it’s about how he’s going to kick me and my brother off his territory when he becomes alpha.”

“Why doesn’t he like you?”

“Because I won’t sleep with him, and I don’t respect him. Can I have it?”

“You don’t need it,” he said. “You live on my territory now.”

“But my brother doesn’t. I have to talk to him and get him to change his mind.”

“You think I’m going to let you talk to someone that wants to sleep with you?” he asked, almost with a laugh. “Are you delusional?”

“Please, I need to see what he has written,” I begged.

“Tell me, Ella, why is your heart beating so fast, and why do I get the impression that you’re hiding something?”

“Leonardo,” I snapped, “just give it to me. This is important.”

“Will you let me read it too?” he asked.

I paused. “No.”

I was sure Logan had written something in that letter that would provoke Leonardo, and however much I despised him, I wouldn’t want to give him Alpha Loren as an enemy.

Not for the sake of the peaceful Cerridwen Pack.

“Then it can stay locked in this drawer until that changes,” he replied, putting it in the nightstand drawer, turning the key, and putting it in his pocket.

“I don’t even get the privacy to read my own letters?” I asked.

“Come here,” he said, gesturing for me to come toward him.

I approached him, and he pulled me between his legs and rested his hands on my hips.

“Your safety comes first,” he said. “This letter is from an alpha I am not allied with, so my alarm bells are already ringing.

“Then you tell me he is not only threatening you, but he wants to sleep with you? As your mate, this matter is my concern.”

I pursed my lips. Irritatingly, he had a point. “Okay,” I said with a nod, “but I am not in any danger, Leonardo. He will not hurt me. Let me sort this out alone.”

“And I suppose I take your word for it and let you risk getting yourself killed? Do you have any sense, Ella?”

I bit my lip and glanced out the window.

“You have a choice. Either you forget all about this and leave your brother to deal with it, or you let me read the letter, and I will deal with it,” he said.

“… Let’s leave the Cerridwen people in peace,” I mumbled.

“Excellent decision,” he said, reaching up to my face and placing his fingers on my chin.

His eyes set on my lips, but I turned away.

“I don’t want you to kiss me again.”

He smiled. “Why not? Worried you’ll end up letting me do whatever I want to you?”

My cheeks flushed once again. “Because you’re a wicked man and you’ve treated me like shit,” I said. “I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

“Not the impression I was getting earlier,” he muttered. He then reached for a lock of my hair and ran it through his fingers.

“I need to at least warn my brother that he may be forced out of Cerridwen territory. You said yesterday that I could call him.”

“Then he dared to step into my territory, and I changed my mind,” he replied. “I’m sure the alpha of Cerridwen will tell him in due course.”

“Leo—”

“Don’t argue with me.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

He clenched his jaw. “I think I’ve already given you enough reasons not to test me.”

I glared at him before taking a deep breath. “Listen here, Leonardo. Let me get a few things straight.”

I slapped his hand off my waist. “I don’t know much about you and how you were raised, but I know a lot about me and how my father taught me to value myself far more than you clearly do.

“I am not some object that you get to control. I am not your property and I am certainly not going to bow down to you.

“You have done nothing to earn my respect and until you do, you’ll not have it. I am a woman with pride, dignity, self-worth, and above all, I respect myself. I will not settle for anyone that doesn’t.”

He smiled in an irritating, condescending way. “You’re fierce,” he said, putting his hand back on my waist. “I like it.”

I growled and pushed him off me again. “Did you even listen?”

“You’ve got a nerve to raise your voice at me, Ella,” he said. “You’re the only person in this damn world that would dare.”

I gave him a sarcastic smile. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

He examined me. “Why don’t you fear me?”

“Should I?” I asked, pursing my lips.

“You know who I am.”

“And I know you haven’t hurt me yet,” I explained. “You said, yesterday, that you draw the line somewhere. Hurting me, your mate, that’s where, isn’t it?”

There was a brief pause.

“You’re smart, Ella,” he said. “But you haven’t got me figured out, so don’t get too comfortable.”