Page 17 of Forced By the Alpha

If only.Devon pointed his finger at Caleb. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

The wolves chorused oohs like a group of high schoolers.

Emma barked a laugh. “Testy, testy. Not at all the attitude of a man that just got laid. Don’t tell me, sweet little Bethie turned you down? She does seem like a bit of a prude.”

“Leave it, Em.” Jonah snapped in before Devon could respond. Maybe the sight of Caleb draped around her was picking at a nerve. “He looks pretty flushed to me. I bet there will be a baby White Winter in no time.”

He rolled his hands in front of him in imitation of a pregnant stomach, and a swell of drunken laughter rose.

“Get that man some champagne!” Caleb said, raising his glass into the air before drinking it down in one. “You’ve got some catching up to do, Dev.”

He let them fill his glass over and over again until the world took on a pleasant haze. His eyes drifted to the open window that led to Beth’s room, willing her to join them. But why would she? They were her pack now but in name alone. To her, they were kidnapping brutes. What would it take to change that? Was it even possible? The questions followed him into the night.

***

Devon woke with the sun. Three days after the mating ceremony, he hadn’t seen Beth once. The pack took food to her room, and Jonah had gotten a few words out of her, but so far, she’d refused to leave her room. It was his pride that kept him from going to her door. Pride and that insatiable desire beat like a drum inside of him. It was easier to keep it at bay when he wasn’t in her presence.

But the pack was starting to get restless. They were questioning whether he could manage the pack when he couldn’t even manage his luna. Not to his face, things weren’t as bad as that yet, but in whispers carried to him by Jonah. Dev had no doubt where the whispers were starting. Emma’s snide comments jabbed at him constantly, at dinner, at the gym, passing in the hall.

Today. He had to do something about it today. He dressed with care, checking his reflection three times before heading to Beth’s room. Jonah was at her door, sitting on the floor with a book in his hands. The rest of the pack was off on a hunt.

“What’s up, Dev?” Jonah got up, jerking his head toward Beth’s door. “Think she just got out of the shower.”

Dev could smell the shampoo in the air. He tried not to think about Beth in a towel. That was useless. It was all he could think about.

“Go and see if you can catch up with the pack. I’ve got her,” Dev said.

Jonah beamed, dropping his book. “Yeah? Thanks, man.”

He ran off, loping down the hall without a backward glance. Dev watched him go, wistful for the ease and thrill of a hunt. It’d be a hell of a lot easier than what he was facing. But he steeled himself and knocked twice on the door.

“What is it?” Beth called, sounding far away.

By the window, perhaps. Dev opened the door, knowing she'd deny him if he gave her the choice. She was curled up on the windowsill, gazing down at the lawn, legs long and lean in cutoff shorts. Her hair was still wet from the shower.

“Come on, let’s go,” Dev said, holding the door open with one arm.

She got to her feet, unsure. “Go where?”

“Outside. It’s beautiful out, and I hear you’ve been cooped up in your room for days.”

“It’s not like I’m allowed to go wander about on my own,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

Devon watched her move. The limp was gone. She leaned her weight on that leg without thinking.

“You’re not alone now. You’re with me, and your leg is feeling better, isn’t it?” He pointed to it, and she looked down and frowned.

“It is, but that doesn’t mean I want to spend any more time with you than I have to.” She could be as petulant as a child.

“Look, if you want to go outside, if you want to run, it’s going to be with me. So accept it, and let’s go. When was the last time you shifted? I know you must be itching for it. To feel the grass under your paws, to put your head down and justrun.” He could see it in her eyes—she wanted it.

It was her weak spot. She wouldn’t have been loping off that day the White Winters had taken her if she hadn’t loved the freedom of running so much. Devon wasn’t afraid to use that against her now, not with so much on the line.

She looked away from him and out the open window. Obligingly, the sun was out, casting a butter-yellow light over the landscape. Birds sang. All of it screamed, “Come out and play.”

Finally, she nodded, lips pressed tight together. He could still vividly remember them parting for him, though, and the need he’d felt radiating from her, mirroring his own. That had been real, no matter how much she’d deny it now.

“After you,” he said, gesturing toward the open door.

---