Page 177 of Ruled By The Alpha

Clarence’s voice filled Jacob’s soul with icy rage, and he wrapped both arms securely around Deliya to draw her intothe shelter of his much larger form. His instincts demanded he protect his mate, and he released a low, feral growl promising death to anyone who ventured near his omega.

“Hmm... not cooperative yet?” Clarence drawled. “We’ll see. A week of fucking might change your mind. I’ll keep checking in. Have to protect my investment, after all.”

The little man’s off-tune whistle grated on Jacob’s nerves as he turned to leave the newly mated couple.

“By the way,” Clarence added, “she might be your mate, but she’s still my property.” He gave a two-fingered wave over his shoulder before leaving through a door at the end of the wagon.

Chapter 6

Jacob’s growl turned into a roar, rattling his chains with the vibration. Furious, he grabbed the length of chain running from his right wrist to a bolt in the wall, but this time, instead of the steel holding fast, a metallic whine followed.

Stilling his movement and silencing his purr, Jacob focused on the length of chain in his hand. His large fingers now dwarfed the links. As his gaze swept up his arm, he briefly noticed other changes to his body. His biceps and forearms bulged to the point the manacle around his wrist now cut into his skin. Fire raced through his veins, and it had all started when he’d claimed Deliya.

While a part of him wanted to explore these changes, the primal animal lurking in his brain urged him to rip out the chains holding him captive. Before his strength had been ineffectual against the steel, but Jacob yanked at the chain anyway. Only mildly surprised when the bolt ripped from the wall, he couldn’t contain his fierce growl of triumph when he was able to force the metal around his wrists to separate.

He turned back to his omega. He could feel her heat rising again. His cock rose in answer to the challenge, but Clarence’s grating, off-key whistle filtered through the wagon’s walls and brought clarity once more.

Deliya’s whine of distress distracted him momentarily, but with a growl meant to force her submission, Jacob ground out one simple word. “Stay.”

Pausing only to meet her eyes to reinforce his command, he rose to stand over his omega. Everything was different. Everything. Later he would catalog all the changes to his bodyand mind, but now he needed to see a little alpha about some “property.”

Uncaring about his own nudity, Jacob pulled the covering from her cage to cover his mate before moving to the door Clarence had exited through. Silently opening the panel, he cast his enhanced senses out into the night. Scents and sounds from the rest of the circus settling in the for night surrounded him, but he was easily able to pick out the scent of Clarence’s cigar.

Closing the door behind him, he descended the three steps to the ground, and with the skill of a hunter chasing his quarry, he slipped around the side of the wagon. He quickly found his prey leaning against one of the large wooden wheels, lighting another cigar.

Jacob didn’t make a sound as he moved up behind the smaller man. Clarence was easily the size of a mere omega, and without the distinctive scent of an alpha, he had probably been an easy target for being a freak and put on display. For a brief second, Jacob felt pity for the other man until a breeze wafted over him and brought a hint of jasmine to his nose.

This fucker had captured and touched his mate.

Any pity for Clarence disappeared between one heartbeat and the next.

A low, vicious growl issued from Jacob’s chest, and Clarence’s fingers froze on the shaft of the cigar. “Well, I suppose—”

The rest of what he had to say was lost in a gurgle as Jacob wrapped one of his huge hands around the front of Clarence’s neck and squeezed. As Jacob raised his arm, a small corner of his mind marveled at how easy it was to lift the other alpha off his feet and into the air. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he turned Clarence to face him, wanting to be sure the other man saw his end coming.

Jacob took feral pleasure in Clarence gasping for breath. He’d touched Jacob’s mate. He’d wanted to sell her to the highest bidder, even with Jacob’s mark on her flesh. Watching Clarence’s hands scrabble at Jacob’s wrists and his legs flail in distress filled Jacob with a dark pleasure he’d have to dissect later. Right now, he needed to protect his mate.

Clarence’s struggles finally slowed, then stopped, and Jacob gave one last squeeze for good measure before dropping him onto the dirt. Crouching down, he quickly rifled through the other alpha’s pockets until he found a keyring. As quietly as he’d exited the wagon, he climbed back inside to find his omega watching the door, wide-eyed.

“Ready to go, mate?” he asked her with a smirk, a purr, and a jingle of the keys.

*

Snatching clothes from one of the circus staff had been an exercise in futility. Even the clothes from Clarence’s burliest betas didn’t come close to fitting, so they’d ended up stealing a sheet and making a rough of kilt of sorts.

Jacob draped the short tunic they’d scavenged for Deliya around her torso and tucked the ends to hold it over the tops of her breast. Taking her wrists in his, he bent his knees and turned at the same time so that his back was facing her front. Bringing her hands to clasp each other around the front of his neck, he slid his hands over the curve of her ass to the back of her thighs. With a quick jolt, he encouraged her onto his back and brought her legs around his waist. Hands moving down the outside of her legs, he crossed her ankles in front of him and bounced a bit to get her weight settled on his back.

“Ready,” he rumbled, moving toward the darkness surrounding the parked circus wagons.

“I can walk, you know,” Deliya murmured into his ear. Her breath and scent wafted over him.

“I know, but I need you close. Plus you’re short.”

His last words ended on a grunt as her legs squeezed him in retaliation. He laughed softly at her indignant snort against his neck. She tapped his right cheek, and he felt her desire brush against his mind, not in words so much as a feeling. When he turned to the right to follow her unspoken desires, he felt her satisfaction pulse down through the bond. He could get used to that warm feeling of happiness lighting up his insides.

Deliya’s small hand tapped against his chest, and she pointed at a cage on wheels parked on the other side of the one directly in front of them. He quickly crossed the few meters of space between their wagon and another advertising a mermaid, vaguely recalling the fleeting flash of scales he’d seen in the tank when he’d first arrived at the freak show, but he focused on the platform next to it. Moving silently on bare feet, he approached the cage.

Half of it lay shrouded in shadow, but a musky blend of cedar and smoke emanated from the dark corner. Jacob carefully drew near the steel bars. A low, rumbling growl from the dark recesses of the cage drew an answering call from his own chest. Two eyes gleamed as a massive, humanoid figure emerged without a sound. Nothing that large should have been able to move that quietly.

---