The Forsaken and the Alpha

Brad’s fingers circled my ankle as he ran his nose up the inside of my calf, over my knee, to the beginning of my inner thigh. I shivered as he breathed me in.

“Smell…,” he said, his breath warm on my skin. He inched his way up my leg, running his tongue along my bare thigh, licking the drops of arousal there.

My pussy throbbed with excitement. I gasped as he stood, his large body pressing me against the sink.

His hand moved to where his tongue had just been. His fingers rubbed against my soaked panties as he ran a finger through the slippery fabric.

I moaned at his touch, not wanting it to end.

“I feel your need. I can help you with that,” he whispered in my ear before pulling away from me. His eyes glowed in the dim light as he straightened his shirt sleeve. “If you ask nicely and say please…of course.”

I blinked at him, trying to compose myself. “You are too presumptuous. I don’t know what Bethany saw in you.” I turned away from him and looked in the mirror, smoothing my hair.

“Bethany? She’s all about sex and she knows it. It was a mutual agreement. I’ll be back with my pack soon. I’m just in town dealing with business.”

Brad took a few steps forward and stood beside me. His voice was low but firm. “She’s human. I knew she wouldn’t work out, just like you need to stop lying to yourself that it’s okay to date the human out there.”

Without saying another word, Brad unlocked the door and left.

I took my time cleaning myself up and getting my mind together before heading back to the table. By the time I got there, my margarita was almost warm. Brad acted like nothing happened, but he continued to stare at me as if he could read me.

Bethany went to get another round for both of us. As I reached out to take my drink from her, Brad’s gaze settled on my hands. He swallowed hard.

“Is that the Hill family ring?” he asked, blinking in the dim light of the bar.

I looked at the ring on my right hand. All of us Hills had one. It was a gold ring with the family crest in the center and two rubies on each side. Even though I left the pack, I kept wearing my ring. I wasn’t a beta anymore, but I was still Alice Hill.

“Yes, my name is Alice Hill,” I responded, taking a sip from my drink.

“I know the Hill family. Jordan Hill is my…right hand…in the…company,” he said carefully. He didn’t say Jordan Hill is my beta in the pack, but I understood what he meant.

Hearing my dad’s name made me spit my drink out.

“What? My dad is Jordan Hill. What happened to Liam?” Liam was the alpha of our pack. He was amazing, and he was always like a second father to me. If Brad was now the alpha, Liam had probably died.

My eyes filled with tears as I was overcome with dread.

“He’s facing cancer, but he’s fighting bravely. He and Helena retired when he first got sick. He didn’t have any male children, just Lilian. I’m his cousin, so I came from the north to take over…the company,” Brad said, careful to couch his words so he didn’t say anything compromising.

I sighed in relief. I couldn’t imagine a world without Liam in it.

So, Brad was the fucking alpha of my old pack. It made sense by his size. Alphas had it in their DNA to be tall, big, and strong, both in their wolf and human forms.

“Lilian…,” I said loudly with a smile on my face. “She was my best friend. I miss her.” I took another sip of my drink.

“You have another best friend now,” Bethany said laughing, and I tried to smile back.

“Wait…if you’re Jordan’s daughter, are you the Hill girl, the one who survived the Miracle of the Moon?” Brad asked.

I gasped again and turned to Bethany and Raphael. They looked confused, and I didn’t blame them. I hadn’t heard that phrase before.

But it made sense. I really was a miracle. I just didn’t expect to have a moniker.

“I didn’t know about the Miracle of the Moon name, but I probably am,” I replied, leaning back in my chair.

“Survived what? Miracle of the Moon?” Bethany asked, confused.

I looked at Brad, who was staring at me, worried about how I would explain it.

“Remember how I told you my fiancé died in front of me, and that’s why I moved away from home? I was attacked that day too. It was really bad. Nobody thought I would survive.”

“It goes much deeper than that,” Brad said sighing. Only after he said it did he realize he shouldn’t have said anything. “Well…by your parents’ account, it seemed a bigger deal.”

He propped his elbows on the table, holding his glass between his hands.

“Your parents miss you,” he said, his blue eyes staring at me, into me.

A tear ran down my cheek at the thought of my parents and what happened that night. I didn’t want to think about it. I wiped my face with the back of my hands and straightened myself in the chair.

My foot accidentally touched Brad’s leg, and he almost jumped out of the chair. His eyes widened, and I could smell his excitement.

Why would he be excited by my touch? I thought I reacted to him because it had been years since I had been in the presence of a wolf. But why would he have the same reaction to me?

I shook my head to try to erase these thoughts. “Let’s change the subject. Why are you in town?” I asked him.

He understood what I was trying to do, and turned the conversation to less morose topics.

Later that night, Raphael invited Bethany and Brad to dinner at our house tomorrow. I clenched my jaw just thinking about it, but I couldn’t think of anything to stop the invite.

At the end of the night, Brad pulled me into a hug, making my whole body shiver.

“I still think you need to sort this out,” he whispered in my ear.

They left, but I couldn’t shake Brad’s words or how he made me feel.

***

I spent the day trying to get Brad out of my head. It all messed with me—him being a wolf and the fucking alpha of my pack, him knowing my parents, plus the fact that I missed everything and everyone so much. I tried my best to banish the thoughts from my mind.

Brad and Bethany arrived much earlier than I was anticipating. Brad’s scent was so powerful, and he looked even stronger than he did yesterday.

Seeing him again was torture, and I was grateful I was in the middle of prepping vegetables and couldn’t touch him in greeting.

Brad brought an expensive wine with them, which he opened and poured. He offered to help me in the kitchen while Bethany went to play Xbox with Raphael in the other room, leaving Brad and I out of earshot of them.

“You never thought about going back?” Brad’s question was direct as he popped an olive into his mouth.

“No,” I responded coldly and firmly.

“You can’t run forever, Alice. You have family there.”

“Without him, it doesn’t make sense…,” I said, swallowing hard.

“I’ve only heard rumors of your story,” Brad said, looking down. “Your mate died in front of you.”

“He died trying to protect me.” I couldn’t hold back the tears. “I don’t feel like I deserved to survive, and I can’t face the pack with that guilt.”

“Guilt?”

“Guilt that I survived. I should have died with him. Why didn’t I?”

My eyes met Brad’s, tears running down my face. He ran his index finger across my cheek, wiping away my tears. I shuddered at his touch, but I was so overcome with sadness and guilt that I managed to ignore my growing feelings for him.

“You were a miracle, Alice. We should thank the Moon Goddess that you are alive, not wonder why.”

I stared into his eyes until the pot of pasta boiled over and I had to take the lid off.

“Seriously, I think you need to consider going back, to at least see your parents. They miss you, and they are wonderful people,” Brad said as he took my place in front of the cutting board and began chopping the tomatoes.

“I don’t know…but you’re right—my parents really are amazing.” I smiled, remembering my family with love. “But I already told you not to tell me what to do. You may be the alpha there, but here you are a guest in my house,” I said firmly.

I watched as he cleanly sliced the tomatoes. He clearly knew his way around a kitchen. “The tomatoes need to be diced,” I commanded.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, saluting and laughing at me.

Brad reached around me for the bowl and leaned in close, his lips right next to my ear.

“I already told you I can tell what you need, and you know I’m right. You should start following my orders. I’m a great leader.”

With the bowl in hand, he returned to the tomatoes and began dicing them like I asked.

“I’m great at giving orders, but I also know how to follow them. I won’t pressure you, but if you don’t find release soon,” he said, pointing the knife between my legs, “there’s going to be trouble. You need to at least let her out. You know it’s not healthy to hide your wolf that long. You can pretend to be human, but you’re not, and she’s in there to remind you of that.”

I hated to admit it, but he was right. It wasn’t fair to my wolf to keep her trapped for so long. I stared at his movements as I thought through what to do.

“You are right,” I admitted, sighing.

Brad lifted his eyes to stare at me, a look of surprise on his face.

“I always am,” he said with a smug smile. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at six. We’ll go to the nearby forest, and you can let her run.”

Brad said it like it was simple, and like I already agreed to work this out with him.

“Is everything okay over there?” Raphael’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I didn’t realize he was so close.

“Yes. Why?” I asked, worried he heard something he shouldn’t have.

“Your eyes are red,” he replied.

I was never a pretty crier. I looked down and saw the onion I chopped earlier. “Ah yes, chopping onions, dear, you know.”

I smiled, and so did Raphael. Only then did I realize he and Bethany finished the video game.

Raphael engaged Brad in conversation, trying to recruit him as a client.

Bethany came to help me finish cooking, and we were soon sitting at the dining table, heaps of noodles on our plates.

“You cook as well as your mother,” Brad said, smiling after taking another mouthful.

The compliment brought comfort to my heart. It was the female beta’s job to cook for the pack leaders. She kept the kitchen running smoothly at the pack house, and her food was delicious.

“Thank you. That was the best compliment I could receive.”

For a moment, I was jealous that he got to eat my mother’s food every day, being her alpha. I swallowed down a wave of longing for home, reminding myself why I left the pack in the first place.

After dinner, I gathered the plates to put them in the sink. As Brad passed me his plate, his fingers touched mine, sending a jolt of arousal through me once again.

His scent grew stronger. I closed my eyes to try to focus, but it was in vain. There she was, my wolf, on the surface, one step away from taking control. My arousal was so strong that my panties were suddenly soaked. It took my breath away.