Page 34 of Forced By the Alpha

He clucked his tongue. “It’s what he deserves.”

“Devon, please. Exile him, but don’t kill him. I can’t have that on my conscience.”

“Is that really what you want, my Queen Mary?”

“It really, really is. We need to start as we intend to go on. We need to put those things in the past.”

Devon sighed, a long, slow exhale. She could imagine him trying to breathe the anger out, his body tense beside her. He wanted to throttle that man, but he’d hold back for her sake, and for the sake of the pack.

“Very well, exile it is. Now, get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”

She curled into him, and he held her close. Cocooned in his strong arms, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

***

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Devon said from the doorway, nudging it open with his foot, carrying two cups of coffee. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

Beth sat up, blinking. It was early, and she could tell from the fuzzy grey light seeping in the window; it was barely dawn if she had to guess. “Why are we up so early?”

He kicked the door closed and set her coffee down on the nightstand. Unlike her, he looked fully awake and, dare she say, chipper. There was a glint in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before, a boyishness in his smile.

“It’s a long hike out to the cabin, so we should get an early start. Here, the coffee will help, and maybe you’ll forgive me once you see the cabin. I promise it’s worth it.”

Beth groaned and flipped over, pulling the pillow over her head. “Can’t we get a late start and just hike in the dark? We’re wolves, for god’s sake.”

“No, no, no,” Devon protested, pulling the pillow off of her head. “We have to walk on foot. Human form. It’s tradition, and you need the real experience.”

Beth grabbed for the pillow but he pulled it out of reach. She tugged the blanket up over her head instead.

“What if I don’t want the real experience? What if I want to get there on four feet instead of two? We could sleep until noon and then run there in half the time. That sounds like the better plan.”

Devon yanked the blanket off, too quick for Beth to grab it. She squeaked in protest, then grabbed his pillow and hurled it at him. It caught him in the face. Surprised, she laughed. She had expected him to block it.

He growled and picked the pillow up off the floor. “Did you just start something I’m going to have to finish?”

He tossed the pillow back at her, and she caught it, his throw soft and easy.

“Thanks for that,” she said, putting it over her eyes and lying back down.

The bed shifted as he climbed on it. She felt him straddle her and gulped, her body reacting in an instant to his nearness. He grabbed the pillow and pulled it from her hands, flinging it across the room where she couldn’t reach it.

“Beth,” he said, bending down to kiss each of her closed eyelids in turn. Then he worked his way over her cheek, to her jawline, then up to her ear. “Do I need to throw you over my shoulder?”

She arched up, exposing her neck for him, wanting more of his hot mouth on her skin, wanting it much, much lower.

“We’re trying to evolve you past the point of caveman, remember?” She said, breathless.

He obliged her, kissing down her neck and over the bare skin of her chest, just above her breasts. She twined her arm around his back and held him to her, trying to guide him lower.

“Not yet, my darling,” he said, laughing against her. “But perhaps if you’re a good girl and get out of this bed, you’ll be rewarded at the cabin.”

He sat up and pulled her onto his lap. She wrapped herself around him, head on his shoulder, and felt his hardness against her. He wanted it as badly as she did. She felt better about that, knowing he was as tormented as she was at that moment.

“Fine,” she said, petulant. “Give me that coffee.”

“So I take it you’re not a morning person,” he said, stretching to grab their coffees from the table.

She took a long sip of coffee and shifted on his lap, smirking at the way he hissed in a breath when she brushed against his cock. “No, I’m not. But I see that you are.”

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