Chapter 9 Syra

The bottom of the duct gives way beneath us, followed by the sound of breaking plaster. All of a sudden, we're both spinning through open air. My stomach lurches into my throat. I see Markus land on the second-floor balcony, his fall broken by the bodies of the alphas who are up there, but my own body misses the balcony by a hand's breadth, and I continue tumbling toward the ground floor below.

Time dilates, stretches, slows, and I'm able to take in every detail of the scene that is now transpiring around me. I can see the spacious ritual chamber, dark except for the ring of candles burning in the center of the floor, and the light from those candles reflects off the eyes of the hundreds of alphas and omegas gathered in the upper balcony and beneath it—eyes which, until a just moment ago, were focused on the ritual, but which are now fixed on my plummeting body. In the center of the ring, the three massive alphas, naked and aroused, have stopped sharing their omega mate and are now clustered around her protectively, thinking my sudden intrusion is an attack instead of what it really is—a very big mistake by a very foolish thirteen-year-old girl.

I'm probably going to get into a lot of trouble for this.

If I survive.

The ritual room is two stories tall, and while I don't know the exact height, I guess it's about like four adult alphas standing one on top of the other. I'm going to break a few bones at least. I might even die. Somehow, I have time to think all these things and more. I picture the crowd gathered around my broken body lying on the floor of the ritual chamber. I imagine my fathers weeping as they light my funeral pyre.

And for what? All because I wanted to sneak in and spy on the mating ritual. I should have turned back, like Markus suggested. I'm glad he's okay, even though I'm still angry at him for kissing me.

Time speeds up again. The floor rushes toward me. I brace for impact.

It never comes.

Instead, at the last moment, a pair of enormous arms arrests my fall. The stop is jarring. It robs my lungs of air, and my heart skips a beat or two, but I'm alive, and there is no pain.

"Are you okay, little one?"

The voice speaking to me is deep yet soft, like my fathers' voices, but different. It surrounds me like a blanket, filling my body with warmth and letting me know I am protected and safe. I feel like I could live inside that voice forever.

I open my eyes and look up at the face of the alpha who caught me. His strong jaw is lined with a short, black beard, and his dark eyes seem to pierce into me like a pair of obsidian-tipped spears. All around us, the ritual chamber is erupting into a chaos of growling, shouting alphas, but my attention stays locked on the face of the unknown alpha cradling me in his arms. His expression is a mixture of sternness and worry. It reminds me of the way my fathers look at me whenever I've done something foolish or dangerous.

"Are you okay?" he asks me again.

I'm still too breathless to answer. All I can do is silently nod my head in affirmation. Then I do the most childish, omega-ish thing imaginable.

I start to cry.

Maybe it's because I'm shaken by my near death experience, or maybe it's due to my embarrassment at becoming the center of attention all of a sudden. Probably it's a little of both. All I know is, no matter how hard I try, I can't hold back the sobs that are suddenly racking my body…

I wake with tears in my eyes.

I sit up.

I'm naked on the bearskin, huddled against Markus's body for warmth. It's already dawn, and the mausoleum is slowly filling with soft, morning light. There's a stained glass window at one end of the corridor, and its colored panes are transforming the sun's golden rays into rich shades of green and red and blue. It makes the place look a lot less terrifying than it did last night. Still, I can't help but shudder when I think about the hundreds of dead ancestors tucked away in their little alcoves lining the walls.

Then I shudder a second time when I remember the dream I was having.

Usually my dreams are just a mishmash of nonsensical images, but the dream I was having just now was different. It really happened, nine years ago, and I just relived it in perfect, vivid detail.

Weird.

Then again, I guess it's not hard to figure out why that night would be on my mind this morning. That was the night I decided I never wanted to be dominated by an alpha. It was also the last time I saw Markus, until last night.

Now everything has come full circle. I try to tell myself it's just a coincidence, but I can't help thinking it's something more than that.

I look at the alpha lying next to me. He's still fast asleep, and he's still every bit as naked as I am. Oh yeah, and there's one more thing we both have in common this morning.

We are both highly aroused.

Markus's erection is still jutting proudly, every bit as hard as it was last night when I fell asleep beside him. The only difference is that his knot has faded, and his shaft is once more uniformly straight from the place where it emerges from his groin all the way up to that supple ridge that encircles his plump, pink glans.

My core flutters at the sight of that hard, naked arousal. I saw it all last night, of course, and felt it too, sliding against my bare vulva, but now in the light of day, I can really study it in all its rigid glory. All I can think about is how amazing it would feel moving deep inside me.

Hot slick leaks out of me, soaking the bearskin beneath me.

I let my eyes wander over the rest of him, drinking in his masculine beauty, admiring the symmetry and proportions of his muscles and the smooth perfection of his skin. A small amount of coarse, dark fur spreads across his broad chest and draws a sexy line from his navel down to the root of his manhood. I'm so entranced by the view of his gorgeous face and body that it takes several minutes of staring before I finally realize something is missing.

Markus isn't pierced.

That's unusual for an alpha his age, especially one who has been part of a pack. Typically, after a young male has completed his training, he will receive piercings on his body which represent his strengths as an alpha. An eyebrow ring, for example, can represent keen eyesight or an observant nature. An earring may signify that an alpha has a sharp sense of hearing, or that he is a good listener. A nipple ring indicates a courageous heart.

If Markus was once part of a pack, he must have received at least one piercing somewhere on his body, but I can see every inch of him now, and there's not a single piece of hardware anywhere on him.

That means he must have removed his piercings at some point.

I should probably be wondering why he would have done that, but at the moment, my heat-stricken mind is more interested in wondering about where Markus used to be pierced.

It's an excuse to explore his incredible body.

I bring my face down close to the side of the sleeping alpha's head and examine the lobe of his ear. I can't see any holes where a piercing might have gone through, but that isn't surprising. Alphas are fast healers. If they take their piercings out, the holes will usually close up pretty quickly.

Still, I can't help inspecting Markus a little more closely. The light in the mausoleum is too dim, I tell myself. I should use my sense of touch to check him.

It's a thin excuse, but it's good enough for my heat-addled brain.

I lean in closer, until my mouth is touching Markus's ear. Then I draw his lobe between my lips and suck it gently. The alpha moans softly in his sleep.

"Hey," I whisper. "Can you hear me?"

No response.

Source, that medicine he swallowed last night must have been pretty potent. That's a good thing. If he woke up now and smelled how strong my heat has become, I don't think he would be able to restrain himself.

But he's still asleep, and his body is still mine to explore.

I decide to check his mouth next. I don't even bother to look for a piercing hole, I just start right away by brushing my lips against his. Then I work my way down his perfect body, kissing every inch of his hard muscles and hot skin. I linger over his nipples, and I feel them harden between my sucking lips. I love the way the alpha's body responds to my touch, even when he is sleeping.

I have to admit, it feels more than a little dirty to be doing this to him while he sleeps, but he did give me permission last night. He told me to use his body however I needed, and right now I need to put my mouth on every single part of him.

I move lower and circle the rim of his navel with the tip of my tongue.

"You taste so good," I whisper.

Markus groans softly in response, but his eyes remain closed. The muscles of his abdomen twitch and shudder. His cock jumps, and the pungent smell of his precum fills the air. My heat burns stronger inside me.

Before I'm even fully aware of what I'm doing, I have his hard cock inside my mouth, and I'm bobbing my head with slow, steady strokes, using my lips and tongue to moisten his long, hard shaft. I take him as deep as my inexperience allows, and when I finally draw myself off him, my eyes are burning and my cheeks are wet with tears. I wipe the dribbles of saliva from my chin.

"You taste so good," I murmur. "Source, how do you taste so fucking good?"

Markus doesn't answer. He can't.

Part of me regrets that, but I know it's for the best. This way I can cure my heat without surrendering, without submitting. This way I get to be in control.

I climb onto Markus's lap and straddle his hips.

What I did with him last night is not going to be enough. My heat is too strong this morning, and my need is too intense. It is burning deep within me now, an ache in need of soothing, an itch that needs to be scratched—and it's in a place where only an alpha's long, hard cock can reach.

With my right hand, I grip the base of his shaft to hold it steady. I raise my hips until my entrance is positioned directly over his tip. I draw one deep breath to steel my nerves, and then…

I lower myself onto him.

I exhale in a long moan as Markus fills me. My slick is practically pouring out of me at his point, and in spite of how big he is, he enters me with ease. His girth stretches me, and it hurts a little, but the pain is nothing compared to the satisfaction of finally having him inside me, hard and hot and alive.

"Oh Source," I whisper. "Markus, you feel so good."

His face shows no response, but his cock bucks inside me, and in my heightened state of arousal, that simple sensation is almost enough to make me come. I gasp and brace my hands against his hard body as my walls flex and flutter around his thick shaft.

"Oh Source…"

I start to move my hips, rocking my pelvis on top of Markus's unconscious body the way I did last night. Only this time, I am not merely grinding myself against him. This time, I am riding him for real. He is inside me, and I can feel every detail of his perfect cock as it slides in and out of my wet pussy.

It feels amazing.

I think I've finally found the solution to my problem, and I'm already beginning to look forward to my future heats. From now on, whenever I feel my estrus coming on, I'll meet with Markus here in our secret place, and he will put himself to sleep so I can use his beautiful body to satisfy my needs. I get to enjoy all the pleasures of mating without having to endure the shame of being dominated. It's the best of both worlds.

But only if Markus agrees, of course.

I have a feeling he will.

As the ache inside me starts to fade, my movements become bolder, and I take him deeper, letting him fill me completely. With every stroke, his tip nudges against the entrance of my womb, sending hot sparks of pleasure spiraling deep into my core. The sensation is strange, almost like being tickled from the inside, but I don't want it to stop. I want it to keep going. I want to feel it again, and again, and again.

"Fuck me, Markus," I whisper. "Fuck me with your big, hard cock."

The alpha stirs softly beneath me, but doesn't wake.

I ride him harder, bouncing on his lap, and the mausoleum echoes with the wet sounds of our mating. I can feel an orgasm growing inside me, like the gathering of the morning twilight before the sun breaks over the rim of the world.

Markus's release is not far off either. I can sense it in the bunching of his muscles and the way his cock throbs harder and faster inside me. My pulse quickens at the thought of him reaching completion inside me.

But I need to be careful.

It is not Markus's seed I'm worried about. He has not marked me, so there's almost no risk of him impregnating me now.

The problem is his knot—the bulbed gland at the base of an alpha's shaft that expands just before ejaculation. I saw Markus's knot last night when I made him come all over his own stomach. I don't think I'm ready to handle that much extra girth inside me. Not yet.

I do want Markus to finish though, and I want him to do it inside me.

I want him to fill my pussy with his seed.

I raise my hips until only his tip is still inside me, then I flex the walls of my vagina, squeezing him with all my might, releasing, then squeezing him again, even harder than before. I work my pelvis up and down ever so slightly, coaxing, sucking, begging for his hot seed.

"Come for me, Markus," I whisper. "Please, I want to feel it. I want to feel you coming inside me."

The alpha moans in his sleep.

My thighs ache from holding my body over him like this. They tremble from the strain.

I let him slide into me a little deeper, and his tip brushes against the sweet spot on my front wall, just behind my clitoris. I come instantly, and my legs give out beneath me, causing me to drop onto Markus's lap. His cock slides into me—all the way in—and his knot expands inside me. A sharp cry breaks from my lips.

It is not a cry of pain.

Don't get me wrong, it does hurt, but the pain only serves to heighten my pleasure, and the intensity of my own climax doubles, then doubles again as I feel the hot rush of the alpha's semen pumping into me, gushing against the deepest part of me. Liquid warmth spreads all through my core, and not a drop of it leaks out. Markus's knot holds everything in.

And it keeps my body locked with his.

I lay my head against his chest and listen to his heartbeat while his cock continues to pulse within me. Exhaustion surges over me and through me, and my eyelids suddenly feel as heavy as two pieces of lead. I let them close. The day has only just begun, but I'm ready to go back to sleep for another hour or two. If Markus's knot has abated by then, maybe I'll ride him a second time. That thought brings a sleepy smile to my face.

My mind drifts. I'm teetering right on the edge of unconsciousness when I hear the first howl in the distance.

My eyes snap open.

Did I really just hear that, or was it only my half-conscious mind playing tricks on me?

The second howl leaves no doubt. It was definitely real, and it makes the small hairs on my arms stand on end.

I've been hunting in the wildlands long enough to be able to identify the sounds different animals make. I can differentiate between the howls of coyotes and wolves and the feral dogs that are descended from the pets of the ancestors before the Change.

The howl I just heard belongs to none of those creatures.

It was the howl of an alpha.

More howls follow, each one louder and closer than the one before. They are less than a mile away, and they're heading in this direction.

"Markus," I hiss.

The alpha just grumbles softly, but he doesn't move or wake up.

"Markus," I say, shaking him.

Still nothing.

The howls are getting closer and closer. It sounds as if they are following the same old road Markus and I used to get here.

"Markus!"

I draw my hand back and swing it hard against the side of his face, slapping him. It feels like slapping a statue. My palm stings from the impact.

But it works. He cracks his eyelids and starts up at me with bleary eyes.

"Syra?"

"Markus, wake up! We're in trouble!"

His gaze dips from my face to my chest, and his eyes open wider when he sees my bare breasts. Then he looks at the place where our two bodies are joined together, and his eyes get wider still.

"Syra… are we?"

"Yes Markus, we're knotted, but that doesn't matter right now. Listen…"