The Alpha’s Tempting Mate

Council Elder

It’s late but I stand with the four other members of our council outside the prison cell door. None of us will sleep this night. If Carlos doesn’t claim the American she-wolf under the influence of the full moon, their communion will be far harder to ensure.

They’re close-so playful, but we hadn’t counted on his using the shackles on himself.

“Maybe we should turn the lights back on, to make sure they don’t sleep,” Jose suggests. He’d ordered them to be shut off an hour ago thinking it would free them from any repression. While receptive, the she-wolf appeared to be inexperienced. She does not seem so now, though.

“Food,” I suggest. “Let’s send in food. And wine.” Perhaps Carlos will ask for his shackles to be removed to eat. A plate has already been prepared in expectation that Carlos would demand more to eat, so I pick it up. “Juanito, push this through the serving door.”

The boy complies. I pour wine in a plastic tumbler. We would use something more romantic, but we can’t risk either of them using anything as a weapon against each other or us, so light plastic is the best we can do.

The she-wolf approaches to investigate. She’s spectacular. Judging by the way our small group of elderly males tightens around the door, I’m not the only one who finds his libido has returned when faced with such a symbol of shifter fertility. She’s truly a prize. If I weren’t so old, I’d claim her as my own. Fight every member of the council to do it, too. That’s what concerns me. If she inspires Carlos too much, when we release him, he will be out for blood.

~.~

Sedona

I never really got the whole horny during the full moon thing before, but I’m crazy turned on right now. I thought only male shifters were affected. And yes, Carlos is definitely having a hard time keeping his wolf in check. I can see it shining in his eyes. The deep chocolate brown flickers with amber lights.

“Is your wolf all black?” I couldn’t tell before, he was tearing around the room too fast.

“Yes. Come here,” Carlos rumbles and wraps his legs around my waist, dragging me down to his body.

I dance away from him, slipping out from his leg hold with a giggle. Lordy, I want to tussle. My wolf is coming out, too, and I need to run and be chased, to be taken to the ground and held down for my claiming.

Carlos growls his disapproval. “Get over here.” I love his bossy tone. It’s pure alpha command. On my father or brother, it’s annoying. On him, it’s ultra-sexy.

I slither close, and lick a line up his six-pack abs.

A rumble of frustration sounds in his throat. “What color is your wolf, Sedona?”

“White.”

“Claro que si.”

I roll my eyes. “Why of course?”

“You really are an angel. White and pure. Nothing like me. Such lightness doesn’t belong with dark.”

“Carlos…” I sense the weight of all that rides on his shoulders and once more I’m angry on his behalf. I run my nails over his sculpted chest. “You don’t have to be dark.”

“No?” There’s doubt tinging the word. “I’m not sure I’ve ever known anything different.”

I pinch one of his nipples and he growls. “Well, you’re a smart wolf. I’m sure you could learn.”

His smile is sad, but his gaze is warm, as if I’m a kid who just said something sweet but impossibly naive, like I want to give my bubble gum to the starving kids in Africa.

“What? Why not?” I press.

“I wish you could show me,” he says it wistfully, like he knows he can’t keep me.

For a moment I can’t breathe-his words strangle me. He’s right-I’m not sticking around. His problems aren’t mine. Except there’s a sharp sliver of panic running from my belly button to my solar plexus that says I don’t want to leave this wolf.

“You don’t need me.” I force the words out past the band around my throat. “You have an MBA from Harvard. I’ll bet you have all kinds of ideas of how to modernize this place.” My words fall flat because I know lightness and dark is so much more than modernization. It’s the soul of the place, the mental state of the occupants. Something’s made Carlos believe he can’t change things. “Tell you what. You get me out of here and… I’ll write you.” Another crazy twinge in my belly at the thought of being separated.

“You’ll send me your fairies, Sedona?”

“Yes. Just promise you won’t show them to anyone.”

“It will be my secret, though I’m sure I’ll want to show your talent to everyone I meet.”NôvelDrama.Org: text © owner.

My cheeks warm. He knows just how to charm me.

“If I honor your request, there is something you must promise me-”

A scraping sound by the door brings my head up with a snap. A plastic plate of food appears through the little service window at the base of the door, along with a new plastic tumbler. Prison rations. Carlos uses the chains on his wrists to leverage himself to sitting, his brows puckered.

I get up and pad over to retrieve the goods. The cup holds red wine. The plate has an array of cut fruits, crackers, cheese, and chocolate. There’s even a mashed avocado with pistachio nuts and a white crumbly cheese. Suddenly famished, I dip a cracker into it and take a bite.

“Dinner is served.” I walk back, food and wine in hand. “See? The hospitality here isn’t so bad.”

He mutters something in Spanish.

“Looks like I get to feed you this time.” Proffering the wine, I scoot closer to him on the bed.

“Uh-uh. No. Unlock me now.”

It’s hilarious how firm Carlos is. He’ll stand me giving him a blowjob, but apparently feeding him crosses a line.

“Sorry, Charlie.” My nipples harden as I hold a cracker with avocado dip up to his lips. There’s something hot about serving an alpha wolf in my birthday suit.

He takes a bite, his dark-lashed brown eyes locked on my face. “I should be feeding you,” he complains, although his jutting erection proves this is hot to him, too.

I roll my eyes. “You’re so old-fashioned.”

He arches a brow. “Look where I grew up.”

I pop another bite of cracker with dip in his mouth, watch his full lips as he chews.

I kneel beside him, loving the way his eyes rake over my breasts, the hunger there. “Tell me about this place. What’s it like? How did you become alpha?”

Clouds storm over his expression. “It’s… terrible,” he admits. “Completely isolated from the modern world. Not poor, but backwards. We have gold and silver mines, which is part of why the ancestors isolated-to keep them a secret-but the methods of mining are ancient and unsafe. Most of the pack survives on subsistence farming and low wages from the mine. We also have plots of sugarcane, a little coffee, and cacao. All the profits go to my family and the council, who live in this gran hacienda.”

“The pack is led by the council, not you?”

“Yes, exactly so. I don’t know how it came about, but there has always been a council that makes final decisions for the pack. The alpha is more of a figurehead.”

“Well I think your council sucks.”

“Indeed.” His voice is dark. I feed him a slice of an orange star-shaped fruit.

“Why did you come back?” I think I know. He’s a natural alpha, which means he wouldn’t shirk responsibility, especially for the weak who might depend on him. But I want to hear what he says.

“You know,”-he gives a humorless chuckle-“if it weren’t for my mother I might not have. And sometimes I’m not even sure she knows I’m here.”

I wait for the story.

“She suffers from dementia. She has since my father’s death. The poor woman doesn’t belong here. She was given as a gift to my father from a pack on the coast and although she loved my father, she never took to Monte Lobo.”

“Given as a gift?”

Carlos nods.

“As in, forced to marry, like some medieval princess? What is this, the Dark Ages?” And I thought my dad’s dating policy was old fashioned.

“It may as well be. Monte Lobo is a fortress against time, as well as humans. Most of the pack live as serfs.”

“Let me guess. The council keeps it that way.” I run my hand through my hair. “This place is messed up. No wonder these assholes think they can just grab me from a beach and present me to their alpha.”

Carlos winces. “I know it sounds barbaric to you.” His expression turns brooding. “I would never bury a woman in a life she hated.”

I can’t tell if he’s talking about what his father did, or making a promise to me, but a chill runs across my skin.

I take a deep drink from the cup of wine. I’m not a huge drinker, but my brother does run a nightclub. The wine is expensive. Delicious. It warms my entire body. I swallow more and bring it to Carlos’ lips.

“What did you want me to promise you?”

He takes a sip and a drip falls down his chin.

I lick it off, laughing when his cock bobs in response. “In exchange for my fairies,” I remind him, my voice pure seduction.

“I don’t wish this event to traumatize you. You’re an extraordinary wolf. You have much to enjoy of life, and much to give.”

“Thanks.”