Page 14 of Brutal Alpha

“I’m not a witch,” I laughed, looking over my shoulder to address the first two men. “Hey, fellas. Take your friend home, will you? He’s so drunk he can’t see straight.”

That was a mistake. The moment my eye was off him, the third male grabbed me around the waist, pinning my arms to my sides. I thrashed wildly in his grip, but his arms were like iron bars around me. Throwing my head back, I felt the back of my skull make contact with his nose, and something hot dripped onto the back of my neck. Despite the fact that I’d likely broken his nose, he only tightened his grip on me, and I gasped as the breath was driven out of me. I was completely trapped, and the other males were closing in.

“Careful, man,” Gary was saying. “Alpha doesn’t want the goods marked.”

“Then hurry the fuck up and knock her out—she’s like a feral fucking cat.”

That was when I saw the first guy pull out a bottle and a dirty rag. Shaking something from the bottle onto the cloth, he advanced toward me, and I kicked out hard with my legs. Hedodged my flying feet, but then someone was grabbing my legs from my blind side, holding them together at the thigh. I cringed at the feeling of his hands on my bare skin, but that was the least of my worries. As I took a deep breath, ready to scream, the rag came down over my nose and mouth, and there was an awful, chemical smell, and everything went black.

Chapter 6 - Ethan

Every step away from the bonfire was torture. My wolf growled and snarled within me, urging me to go back. For some reason, he’d latched onto her—probably because I’d never fucked a girl I really cared about before, and as much of a brat as she was, I couldn’t deny that I cared about Julia. I didn’t like leaving her alone in the dark any more than my wolf did, but I also knew it was for the best. Given a few hours to cool down, I was certain she’d see sense, let go of this ridiculous idea she had that we were mates. She’d be embarrassed in the morning, but I had no intention of teasing her about it—I’d much rather forget she even suggested it—so that would work out for both of us.

It had been coming up on one o’clock when I’d bid goodnight to the last of the visiting Alphas and made my way down to the bonfire to apologize to Julia, so it must be at least two by now, and my friends and Betas had already made a start on collecting the discarded bottles and paper cups left by our guests.

“Look who finally appeared,” Leo teased, dropping his trash can to lean against the nearest table. Xander followed his lead, adopting a stern expression that was completely foreign on his normally smirking face.

“Dodging the cleanup, Ethan?” he said, in a disconcertingly good impression of his late father. “I’m disappointed in you.”

“Nah,” said Jace, who had snuck up behind me, poking me in the side with an empty bottle. “He found himself a girl.”

I couldn’t fault him for his conclusion, but this was the last path I wanted to go down. I tried not to be indiscreet about my hook-ups—I wouldn’t give names or talk about specifics—but I’d never exactly been shy with my friends when I’d made a conquest. This, though—this was nothing to boast about.

I stayed silent, hoping they’d let the matter drop, but I had no such luck.

“So, was she cute?” Jace prompted, and Xander draped an arm around his shoulders.

“You know Ethan’s a man of exacting tastes,” he said, his fake posh accent grating on my nerves. They might not know they were talking about Julia, but I did, and my wolf was spitting mad.

“Piss off,” I said, trying to sound casual, and failing entirely. Leo gasped.

“Has Ethan Cain struck out for the first time in living memory?”

“No.” This time, I couldn’t keep the growl from my voice, and my friends exchanged loaded looks.

“So what, she wasn’t impressed with your moves?” Xander needled.

“You weren’t impressed with hers?” suggested Jace.

They were both so wrong, but now was not the time to think about the softness of Julia’s skin beneath my fingers, or the beautiful little hitches in her breath every time I hit that spot deep inside her. It was never, in fact, the time to think those things about my best friend’s little sister.

“Just can it, would you?” I insisted. “There’s no girl.”

Mercifully, Leo and Jace seemed to get the message, and Leo placed a firm hand on Xander’s shoulder before he could push any further.

“Sure,” said Leo, “but there’s definitely cleanup left to do, and you’re lagging.”

He shoved the trash can into my hands, and I took it gratefully, letting my friends’ chatter wash over me as I held out the bin for them to throw discarded bottles into. Usually, this kind of job was far below an Alpha’s station, but I liked to make an exception on the Solstice. It was a night for the Pack to let loose and not worry about their responsibilities. Since my Betas and I had to stay sober for the sake of diplomacy in any case, I had decreed that we would be in charge of clean-up for the evening. It had been a popular announcement, and I didn’t regret it for a moment.

The rhythm of the work was soothing, and I was almost calm again by the time Leo ruined it.

“Hey, anyone seen Julia?” he asked, and the other two shook their heads.

“She was sitting by the fire a couple of hours ago,” Xander offered, and Jace nodded.

“Maybe she went to bed.”

Predictably, Leo wasn’t satisfied with those answers. Why should he be? Julia was a lone female—and a weak female at that.

---