Owned By The Alphas

7

Nikolai nodded. “The bite of your alpha,” he said, walking forward as the others claimed their offerings.

The girls’ screams made me jump, piercing the room, echoing, bouncing off the walls, and I knew that’s what I had heard through the door.

I glanced over at them, Braxton and Derik tearing through their clothes to get to their hip. Derik sank his fangs in first. Then Brax. The girls sobbed, screaming, and I backed up from Nikolai. I hated pain.

“No point in running, Lori.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t want it to hurt,” I admitted, not ashamed of my aversion to pain.

He hesitated, then a smirk crept across his face. “It doesn’t have to hurt,” he offered, and I raised a brow.

“I have a feeling I am going to regret this, but what do you mean?”

He backed me up against the wall, his finger running up my thigh, slipping under my silk nightie, brushing my hipbone.

“We put the bite here so it is not visible to others, keeps the secret, and can be easily covered. But there are other places to put it that aren’t so painful,” he breathed, leaning closer as I swallowed a stuck breath.

“Like where?” I asked, sucking in a breath when he lowered himself down my body, his face in front of my p***y.

He lifted the silk, revealing my damp lace panties. He gave a growl of approval before leaning in.

I gasped as his warm breath teased me, his lips brushing along my thigh before pressing them against the hot skin on the inner of it. I almost moaned at the feeling.

I clutched the pillar of the wall I leaned against. His fingertips brushed along my outer thigh as he kissed the inner again, his fangs scraping lightly. He tapped the spot he had kissed, then looked up at me.

“If I bite you here, your husband might not appreciate it when he chooses you tomorrow, but it will feel like I just sucked your clit.”

He grinned, and my eyes fluttered closed. I didn’t care about my ceremony tomorrow, it was tomorrow’s problem. I wanted less pain tonight, so I nodded, meeting his eyes.

“Do it,” I breathed, and he grinned, kissing the flesh under my p***y with tender lips before he opened his mouth and latched on to the skin.

I cried out as his fangs pierced the skin, sinking into flesh. But holy f**k, I almost came. My knees shook to hold me up as blinding pleasure tore through me.

I moaned as his fingers teased me through my panties, the lace scratching my folds as his tongue caressed the skin of my thigh. I whimpered as my body demanded more, but he pulled away.

I looked down at him as he licked over the wound, sealing it enough to stop the bleeding, before kissing the red marks that were left, the ones that were going to scar.

I shuddered against him. I didn’t care, that was worth it. If my future husband cared then he could go f**k himself, I’d still choose the same fate.

Nikolai stood up, his eyes hooded with lust, and something twisted inside me. Like I could feel his body with mine, his lust was mine, his desire was mine. It was too much.

I stepped into him as he growled and gripped the back of my head, fisting my hair before yanking me to his mouth. He almost made it too when Derik roared.

“Nikolai!”

Nikolai froze as Braxton and Derik pulled him away. Nikolai fought them as I stepped toward him. It took both of them to stop his feral need that I felt in me.

Derik spun Kai to him as Braxton stood between me and him. I frowned as I felt fear flicker in me. Not mine. It was Brax’s and Derik’s.

“We’ve got to follow the rules, Kai.” Derik tried to break through to the alpha as Braxton’s eyes snapped to mine.

I stepped back as he came forward, his eyes wide. He sniffed all around me, lifting strands of my hair as I smacked his hand away. He stepped back, his eyes still wide as he turned to his brothers.

“We’ve got a problem, boys,” he warned, and I hated the way he looked at me. Like it was my fault.

Nikolai and Derik frowned, glancing between me and Brax. I held my arms around me again as the other girls huddled, tears sticky on their faces as they held their brands.

“What now?” Derik snapped.

“Her shadows are whispering to her,” he said, his eyes going back in his head.

“She’s channeling us,” he said as if it meant anything to me.

“I’m not doing anything.”

Braxton nodded. “Yes, you are, Spitfire, you just haven’t learned how to harness those shadows yet.”

“What shadows?”

“The winter shadows inside you. They’re part of you, and yours are fiercely loyal to you. Lucky for you.”

“How the hell is that lucky?” I snapped.

“Because if they weren’t, they would try to destroy all the good parts of you, and then we’d have to kill you before you destroyed us all.

“But that’s enough storytelling tonight, Spitfire. We have a ritual to complete before the sun comes up, and Nikolai is going to ruin ancient traditions and take you on the dinner table if we don’t hurry the f**k up. So, shall we eat?” he asked, as if he hadn’t just told me I was haunted in some weird f****d up way.

What were the shadows? What did that mean? Could they control me?

“Depends, do you have normal food?” I asked, and he chuckled, leading me past the other alphas and through the next door.

My jaw dropped at the next room I was led into. It wasn’t cold, or dark. It was warm and vibrant with a feast laid out for all the offerings, who were laughing and eating.

Fireplaces filled the room with warmth as soft music played in the background.

Like it was a true ceremony. One to celebrate.

I still wasn’t sure what part I was meant to be celebrating, but I was starving, so I ignored my reservations and let Nikolai stride into the room, grab my hand, and lead me to the seat next to his.