Page 31 of Forced By the Alpha

Emma cut in from across the table. “Don't you know? I thought he’d share everything with his beloved mate. His luna. The savior of our pack.”

She held her hand to the sky dramatically, and the rest of the pack tittered.

Jonah nudged Beth with his knee beneath the table. “Don’t even listen to her, she’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”

It was working. They were a pack of schoolyard bullies but with the genuine threat of violence behind them. What she wouldn’t give to have Adria at her side just then.

“And does she get a rise out ofyou,Jo?” Emma teased, her grin wicked. She dropped her eyes down to Jonah’s lap pointedly.

“You’re disgusting,” Beth said, shoving her plate of fries away, appetite gone.

She should have known better than to try to have a meal without Devon around. The White Winters were not civilized enough to restrain themselves in her presence. They still saw her as a Rosewood, not as one of them. Maybe they never would.

“That’s your luna you’re talking about. Have some respect,” Jonah said, jaw tight.

“So you’ve never thought about it? I bet every man here has. I mean, look at her. If you’re into that whole innocent virginal thing, that is. It’s a shame it doesn’t seem to affect our alpha. Maybe you’re just not his type?” Emma popped a fry into her mouth, head tilted to the side like a hawk catching sight of its prey.

Beth wanted to run. She wanted to push back her chair and flee from the room, from Emma’s needling and the stares of all the men. Caleb shifted, uncomfortable, but did nothing to stop Emma. Then she remembered what she had told Devon that day when Emma had shoved her into the wall. She could fight her own battles.

“What happens between me and Devon is none of your business. Don’t you think you’re a little too invested in your own brother’s sex life?” Beth pasted a bland smile on her face and hoped it didn’t look more like a grimace.

But she didn’t get the reaction she’d been hoping for. Emma’s eyes sparkled in delight. She wasn’t the hawk. No, she was the cat, enjoying the game of batting at a mouse that thought it could get away.

“It is my business, though. If our alpha doesn’t mate with our luna, well, what good is she? We need you two to breed, and the sooner, the better. That’s what you’re here for, my dear, sweet Rosewood. Not for your charming presence. For your womb.”

Beth flinched back, scarcely believing Emma could talk to another woman in that way. It helped to remember that Emma was more wolf than woman, and seemed to prefer it that way. Even in her human form, the predatory glint in her eyes gave her away.

There was no point in trying to eat now, Beth’s stomach was roiling, and despite what she’d told Devon so adamantly that day, she had no real desire to win this fight. It wasn’t a fight at all. It was just Emma trying to tear her down while the others watched.

“I think I’m finished,” she said to Jonah, pushing him back down when he tried get up with her. “No, you stay and eat. Really, I’m fine. You listen to a harpy screeching long enough, and eventually, you learn to tune it out.”

She wasn’t even shaking as she walked out of the room, not visibly, at least. Part of her wanted to go back, turn into a wolf, and tear the fur out of Emma right there at the table. No matter how she tried to avoid it, a confrontation between them was becoming inevitable.

Beth wandered the grand house without hurrying to return to her room. Even the most lovely room felt stifling when it was the only one she got to see, and she took every opportunity to pace through the house when the wolves were away. It had its charm. She’d found her favorite spot, a tucked away nook with a well-worn armchair beside a window, begging for someone to linger over a book.

Tonight, her thoughts were busy enough to make reading a futile endeavor. Instead, she curled onto the chair and rested her chin on the back, looking out at the night sky. An endless sea of stars stretched out over the trees.

Was Devon out there? She wanted him there, with her. The sentiment surprised her. She felt safer when he was there, that was all. He alone could control those wolves. It had nothing to do with the cautious smiles he gave her, or the feel of his strong arms around her.

She must have fallen asleep there, dreaming of Devon. When she woke, a band of moonlight illuminated her chair, and she was not alone.

“Jonah?” She sat up, blinking, trying to rub the sleep clear from her eyes.

It wasn’t Jonah. One of the other men, one she didn’t know well, his face shadowed as he hung back out of the light.

“What is it? Is Devon back?” She asked, getting to her feet, backs of her legs pressed against the chair.

“You don’t need to worry about him. He won’t interrupt us.” The man reached out for her face.

Beth’s sleep-filled mind struggled to make sense of his words, but her body read the threat. She slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch me. And move out of my way,” she said, looking to the dark, empty hallway behind him. How had he found her there? Was it nothing more than bad luck?

His face contorted in anger. He pushed her back, knees buckling when they hit the chair, and she fell onto it.

“Devon might allow that kind of talk from his bitch, but I won’t. Shut your pretty mouth and be a good girl about this, I’m only giving you what you need.” He loomed over her, holding the arms of the chair so she was enveloped by him.

There was something all of those White Winters had to learn—just because she chose not to solve everything with violence, didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of it. Beth drove her knee upward into the man’s crotch and shoved him to the side when he doubled over, gasping.

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