Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

ELEANOR

I entered my room and tried to slam the door behind me, but Alexander was faster, his hand reaching out to keep the door open.

My anger sparked to life.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I snarled.

It wasn’t until I’d taken Dylan’s hand that I noticed the looks the pack members were giving me that I’d remembered the first dance was supposed to be between the alpha and the luna.

I’d gone along with the dance. A rejection and the ensuing argument would make the scene even weirder. But absolutely nothing could’ve prepared me for Dylan’s words or Alexander’s volatile response.

Alexander ignored my protest and walked into my room like he owned it.

Technically, he did, but that wasn’t the point.

“For someone who claims he doesn’t want me, you’re acting like a territorial asshole,” I ground out, but Alexander kept walking.

Toward me .

His pupils were so dilated that his eyes looked completely black as he closed the distance between us. I wasn’t sure if I was facing Alexander or his wolf.

I wasn’t doing this. I knew the moment Alexander touched me, it was game over. The mate bond would take over, and all my anger would give way to unreasonable desire.

How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want you around before you get it? Or are you so desperate for any attention that you simply don’t care?

Alexander’s words from a few days ago still stung.

Desperate for any attention? Really?

With his father’s condition deteriorating, I’d been worried about him. I should have known better.

I wouldn’t let him touch me now, no matter what.

I tried to get around Alexander, but my room had only one exit…into his room. And Alexander was standing right in my way.

Thinking fast, I jumped onto my bed, hoping to bypass him and head straight into his room, but he was faster.

One minute, I was moving across my bed; the next, Alexander tackled me.

His hands pressed down on the bed on either side of me, bracing himself above me and caging me in.

My heart raced, threatening to escape my chest.

In my bid to escape Alexander, I’d put myself in an even more compromising position.

Darkness swirled in Alexander’s gaze, and when he spoke, his voice was little more than a guttural growl.

“You will never be in close quarters with Dylan again.”

Each breath was tainted by his sensual scent, its woody undertones going straight to my head and muddying my thoughts.

I held on tight to the last vestiges of my rationality as I met Alexander’s gaze.

“You don’t have the right to order me to do that,” I said, my voice coming out stronger than I’d expected.

Alexander growled, and the sound reverberated through me, affecting me in all the wrong ways.

“You are mine , Eleanor.”

I shook my head in denial, but my legs were pressed together and my core ached with arousal. He hadn’t touched me yet, but I was already a mess.

“Back up, Alexander,” I told him, my words more of a plea than anything else.

Naturally, he didn’t back up.

Instead, he moved closer, his knee settling between my thighs and parting my legs without my permission.

A rough sound escaped me as my body turned into liquid heat beneath him.

“Alexander, please.”

I was begging him to release me, but my hips rolled against him and my nipples were painfully hard.

Alexander trailed a single finger down my cheek, sending a wave of shivers through me.

“Promise me,” he insisted, his voice a dark enchantment pulling me under.

My mind was in such a haze that it took me several seconds to realize he was still talking about me not being in “close quarters with Dylan.”

I wanted to refuse purely on principle. Alexander couldn’t just sexually compel me into agreeing to whatever he wanted.

Alexander’s thumb dipped to my lips and parted them ever so slightly, his gaze dark as night.

It took everything in me to rein in the insane impulse to suck on his finger. I wanted to push him back onto my bed and straddle him, stare into those blue eyes that unraveled me completely, and unbuckle his pants and?—

“I promise, I promise,” I said hurriedly, before I found myself in an even more compromising position.

But Alexander didn’t let go of me.

His hands moved all over me—ripping at my dress, touching, groping, and igniting a trail of lust that had my head falling back and uninhibited moans escaping my lips.

It took me longer than it should have to realize he was marking me, smothering me in his scent and erasing Dylan’s—marking his territory in the most primitive way possible.

It was insane. It was barbaric.

So why did I find it so damn hot?

Especially when he whispered the word “mine”over and over again, with his lips a breath away from my skin.

If I had any doubts that Alexander’s wolf was in control, they were completely erased.

Goddess, I was no longer strong enough to be rational.

I needed more. I needed all of him.

I tried to remind myself that I hated Alexander. But I wanted him so badly.

I couldn’t stand him. No, I couldn’t stand being without him .

My thoughts jumbled into an incomprehensible mess, and I was surprised when I heard myself speak.

“Alexander, stop,” I gasped, breathless and burning with desire. “Please.”

Alexander paused and pulled away from me slightly. A groan of complaint slipped past my lips. I needed his fingers a bit lower.

Alexander’s eyes flickered rapidly between icy blue and bottomless black, his claws ripping into my bedding as he visibly fought for dominance with his wolf.

Alexander’s claws retracted and when he met my gaze, his eyes were a glacial blue.

Pulling away, Alexander left my bed and entered his room without uttering a single word.

I couldn’t move. Instead, I shivered on my bed, my clothes in tatters as my body fought off a wave of desire for Alexander.

This…this hadn’t been just the pull of the mate bond.

What on earth just happened?

I still didn’t have an explanation when I met up with Seraphina the next day, as per the plans we’d made at the coronation.

“How do you feel today?” I asked her, pushing all thoughts of her brother out of my mind.

Seraphina’s face held a bit more color than it had the day before, but her voice still wobbled slightly when she spoke.

“I…my father and I never saw eye to eye. We argued about the silliest things, too. Now, he can’t even speak, so we can’t ever sort things out between us.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and hugged her tight. I knew it wasn’t enough, but I had to do something.

“I might not have known your dad for long, but I know he cared about you,” I said softly. “He might be sick, but he’s still here. Talk to him. Even if he can’t respond, I know he understands.”

Seraphina returned my hug, her grip almost as tight as mine before she pulled away, her cheeks a bright red.

“Thank you,” she said, a small smile playing across her lips. “And I’m sorry I just slobbered all over you. I’m not usually this emotional.”

Somehow, I doubted that. Maybe it was because I still remembered how she’d been moved to tears when I’d mentioned Alexander and me didn’t have the typical mate bond.

“It’s fine.” I shrugged. “Feel free to slobber on me anytime.”

Seraphina’s eyebrows climbed high.

“Careful, I might just take you up on?—”

Her voice cut off abruptly, and I turned to see who’d captured her attention.

The new arrival was almost as tall as Alexander, and if I were to guess, he was probably around my age, but his ears turned bright red when he caught sight of Seraphina.

“Sera,” he said softly.

Seraphina tucked her hair behind her ear, looking everywhere but at him.

“Hi, West.”

So this was the bodyguard who Seraphina had almost eloped with, causing her father to have her strictly monitored and locked up in her room.

He seemed sweet, but I knew from experience that daughters of alphas almost never mated with wolves they had feelings for. They had to mate to make an alliance that benefited the pack.

“West, this is Alexander’s mate and my sister-in-law,” Seraphina said, her words tripping over one another. “Eleanor, this is West, your new trainer. I’ll see you later. Bye!”

She dropped a kiss on my cheek and she hurried off as if her pants were on fire.

West’s eyes tracked her across the field until she disappeared into the tree line.

The poor boy was besotted.

His gaze returned to mine and he flushed with embarrassment when he realized I’d been watching him.

“I’m sorry. Seraphina and I—” he began to explain, but I shook my head.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

After all, he was doing me a favor.

Last night at the coronation, Seraphina and I had spoken at length about her father, her attempted elopement, and how she was my only friend in this pack.

Somehow, the incident at the training grounds had come up, and she’d started crying, saying she’d failed me as my sister-in-law because she hadn’t been there to “defend my honor.”

I’d tried to placate her, to no avail. Then she’d stopped crying almost as suddenly as she’d begun, an almost scary gleam in her eyes. I was going to have a personal trainer, she declared, and she knew just the person for the job.

At this point, I knew that the Nightshade Pack was filled with the most unusual people, but I was starting to think I liked that.

A lot.

“Do you have a goal in mind for your training?” West asked softly, his calm demeanor the complete opposite of Seraphina’s chaos.

“Not really…I mean, I’ve never trained before.” I shook my head. “I wasn’t allowed to in my former pack.”

West didn’t seem surprised. He just nodded.

“All right, then. We’ll start with the basics.”

For someone so soft-spoken, West was a ruthless trainer. I understood the reason why he’d been made Seraphina’s bodyguard.

After some warm-up stretches that were supposed to loosen up my body but left me feeling like I’d dislocated most of my joints, we worked on the basics.

We practiced posturing, observation, fighting stances, and breaking holds, as well as connecting better with my wolf to optimize my strength without letting her take over completely in a fight.

As I walked back to Alexander’s residence a few hours later, it was with a sweaty, achy body that wanted nothing more than a bed to crash on.

I was to report every day to that patch of woods for training. Goddess, I was already dreading it, but it couldn’t be helped—not if I wanted to be able to defend myself.

At least Alexander was at a meeting in the pack house, so I didn’t have to worry about facing him immediately after what happened last night.

No sooner had that thought popped into my head than a group of pack warriors appeared in front of me.

Their leader, a lady with a close-cropped buzzcut, bowed slightly to me, and the others behind her followed suit.

“You have been summoned by the alpha of the pack,” she informed me.

Dylan wanted to see me? Why?

Besides, wasn’t he in the meeting with Alexander?

I wanted to refuse, but looking at the group of pack warriors he’d sent to escort me, I doubted Dylan would take no for an answer.

I had to see him to clear the air about our dance last night. That was it.

I let them escort me into a massive receiving room in the pack house that reminded me of the room Father received his pack complaints in.

The warriors retreated to the side of the room while I walked toward the chair that was turned away from me.

I stopped a safe distance away and bowed slightly.

“Good day, alpha, I?—”

The chair swiveled, and there was no sign of Dylan. It was Micah who sat there with her legs crossed, a sadistic smile playing across her lips.

“The alpha is…preoccupied,” she said dismissively as she stood up. “In his absence, I will see you.”

I had a strong feeling that Dylan hadn’t summoned me at all.

As Micah walked toward me courteously, she rammed me with a barrage of dominant energy that she’d gained from her coronation as luna of the Nightshade Pack, pushing me down.

I stumbled, but I didn’t fall.

“Is this how you show respect to your luna?” Micah chided, clicking her tongue even as she increased her onslaught of unbridled power. “But then again, what else was I expecting from a whore who, despite being mated, can’t stop throwing herself at my mate?”

Oh, the irony.

She was the one who’d seduced my fiancé the night before my bonding ceremony, but I was the one being branded a whore.

But I didn’t plan to argue with Micah. I refused to play her games.

I inclined my head slightly.

“If that is all, luna, I’ll take my leave.”

I turned to go.

“I forbid you from leaving,” Micah snarled, and the warriors who’d escorted me moved in front of the door, blocking my way out.

I turned to face Micah, who still had that entitled look on her face.

“Kneel and beg me to forgive your transgressions,” she continued, dominance dripping from her words.

Against my will, one of my knees hit the ground. My wolf struggled against my instinctive need to submit to the luna of my pack.

Micah smirked down at me.

“Grovel well enough, Eleanor, and I just might be merciful.”

Merciful. Forgiving.

That’s what I’d been after I discovered her with my fiancé. I’d given Micah multiple chances to redeem herself and save our friendship, but all she’d done was show me she’d never been my real friend.

I was done being merciful. I was done being forgiving. But most of all, I did not accept Micah as my luna.

Something snapped within me, and the dominance that had been keeping me pinned completely dissipated.

I rose to my feet and met Micah’s shocked gaze easily.

“Go. To. Hell,” I said, carefully enunciating each word.

Two red spots appeared high on Micah’s cheekbones.

“Bitch,” she snarled, raising her hand to hit me, but I caught it easily.

I tugged her forward with more strength than I’d known I had.

“I tried to understand your betrayal. I gave you chance after chance, but not anymore,” I growled. “Luna or not, I won’t lie down and let you walk all over me.”

The look of anger on Micah’s face gave way to a satisfied smile that rubbed me the wrong way.

“Do you know what the punishment for disobeying your luna is in the Nightshade Pack?” Micah mocked, and I realized this had been her plan all along.

Force me to submit or humiliate me until I broke and defied her—it was a win-win situation.

The doors to the receiving hall slammed open, and the smirk on Micah’s face disappeared.

A familiar hand settled on my lower back, sending pleasurable tingles down my spine.

“Excuse us,” Alexander said to Micah, and it wasn’t a request. It was a command.

As my mate escorted me away, the rage in Micah’s eyes silently promised that next time, my mate wouldn’t be there to save me.

We didn’t get far before Alexander pushed me into a room similar to the one we’d just exited, except this one smelled like him.

I opened my mouth to thank him, but Alexander rounded on me before I could speak, his eyes dark with anger.

“Have you taken complete leave of your senses?” he growled.

I blinked at him, completely confused.

“What do you mean?”

But Alexander wasn’t done.

“I leave you for one moment, just one , and you manage to get yourself into a bind,” he seethed. “Are you unable to keep yourself out of danger?”

“But Micah was—” I tried to explain, but Alexander didn’t let me finish.

“Micah is the luna of the Nightshade Pack, and you should’ve known better than to insult her in front of an audience!” he thundered.

“I didn’t insult her,” I corrected, my temper rising at Alexander’s words.

Whose side was he on?

“I stood up for myself, just like you suggested not so long ago,” I reminded him.

Alexander’s jaw clenched. It seemed he didn’t like his own words thrown back at him. Pity.

“Maybe you wouldn’t need to stand up for yourself if you hadn’t stolen her dance with her mate in front of the entire pack,” Alexander said finally, his voice heavy with the implication that I had been the one to start the fight with Micah.

Unbelievable.

“I didn’t steal—you know what? I don’t have to explain myself to you,” I bit out, turning away from him and heading for the door. “Think whatever you want.”

I was so done with this conversation.

As I reached for the doorknob, I tossed a parting shot over my shoulder.

“And next time, please don’t interfere. I can get out of my binds myself.”

I slammed the door of Alexander’s receiving room behind me.

And Dylan stood barely a foot away, his eyes wide with surprise.

Great. Just great.

Because today couldn’t get any better.

I stormed past him, but Dylan couldn’t seem to take the hint that I wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.

I heard him easily catching up with me.

“Eleanor,” he called out.

I ignored him, walking out of the pack house as fast as my legs could carry me, but Dylan had longer legs.

“Eleanor.”

I ignored him again.

“Eleanor—”

I spun on my heels to face him, pent-up anger lacing every word that left me.

“What do you want?” I growled.

Dylan took a step back, obviously surprised by my aggression. Then his face tightened, and I knew I wouldn’t like his response.

“You,” he said simply.

What. An. Idiot .