The First Alpha, page 5
Lucius. Just the thought of his name drove her to despair. The thought of spending her life with the man was unthinkable. His cold, callous manner left her an empty husk. That way he looked at her as if she were something to be toyed with, something to use to pass the time made her shiver to her very bones. He may be beautiful, rich and powerful, but in even greater measure he was cruel, cold and calculating, ambitious to a fault and willing to sacrifice anything to achieve his goals.
Even, Cassie suspected, his wife.
Unfortunately for her it was even more unthinkable to rebuff the advances of an alpha. Rejecting his hand in marriage was so crazy a notion that Lucius hadn't even thought to give her an option. He'd simply told her they would be wed on the next Long Night, and instructed her to move into his home to prepare for her life by his side. It was her duty, as a wolf from any tribe would agree. Even the bears and the mountain lions, each with their own bizarre and unfathomable customs, wouldn't dare disobey their leaders in this respect.
She'd cried every night since, hiding her raw, puffy eyes from Megan. Every night but the last. Last night she'd held vigil beside Adam's healing body, all thoughts of Lucius absent from her mind as she watched the stranger's chest rise and slowly fall with each slumbering breath, and for the first time since arriving in this prison she'd felt at peace. She'd felt as if she belonged at his side.
"Could you hand me a towel?" Adam's voice called through the door. He cracked it open and peeked through the gap. "I don't see any in here."
Cassie scanned the room, realizing there were no towels in sight. She'd never used the bathroom in this small guest room before, and it hadn't occurred to her it wouldn't be well stocked. Now she thought about it it would be a surprise if it had been. Rutherford didn't seem the type to remember to keep the guest rooms prepared for actual guests.
"Here, you can use this," Cassie replied, picking up the blanket Adam had used to cover himself earlier. She began to walk to the bathroom door but Adam was too quick, stepping out into the bedroom naked and dripping, his skin glistening with moisture. Once again Cassie averted her eyes just a moment too late, unable to resist stealing a glance at his pristine body. He seemed to enjoy showing her his body, and despite her arousal it made her want to slap him, as if he were responsible for her impure thoughts.
"Please, cover yourself up!" she cried. "You're in my home. I expect you to act like a gentleman."
Adam looked down at his naked body as if noticing for the first time that he was undressed, then shrugged the blanket over his shoulders. "I apologize for my rudeness, Cassie. Old habits die hard, and this one is extremely old."
Cassie scowled, attempting to cover her lust with a veneer of anger. "Well... just remember you're in a lady's bedroom. You should know better."
Adam bowed his head a little too dramatically, and Cassie suspected he was teasing her just a little. "Yes, m'lady. As you wish." He scanned his eyes around the room, rubbing his palm across the wet bristles of his beard. "Do you have a razor in here? I could really use a shave."
She nodded curtly and turned back to the dressing table, finding a shaving kit in the drawer in which she'd found Lucius' clothing. "Here, you can use this."
Adam took one look at the badger hair brush and ivory handled straight razor and shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't used one of those in many years. Do you have anything a little more modern?"
Cassie sighed. "No, this is all we have." She knew Lucius despised modern razors, and had insisted she learn how to shave him with the cut-throat from the day she arrived. She put on an air of impatience, hoping Adam couldn't detect the eagerness behind her false expression. "Come on, sit down. I can shave you."
"Thank you, Cassie. That would be a pleasure." He grinned that easy, self-assured grin once again, the one that made Cassie want to slap him and kiss him at the same time, and dropped to the chair before the mirror as Cassie unscrewed a tin of shaving cream.
"Tilt back your head," she ordered, pleased to feel in control for a moment, and circled the swirled across the soft bristles of his cheek until the cream lathered up, thick and white.
"You're sure you know how to do this?" asked Adam, looking up at her with a hint of uncertainty in those beautiful emerald eyes.
"Yes, of course I know. I shave my... I shave Lucius when he's here. Now be quiet and hold still. You've already shed enough blood."
Cassie pulled the blade from its fine ivory shaft and locked it in position before gently placing a finger beneath Adam's chin to hold him steady. It was only a soft, insignificant touch, but even that was enough to make her heart beat a pace faster. The blade shook in her hand, and she forced herself to pause for a moment until the butterflies in her stomach settled. She couldn't believe how much he made her feel like a nervous schoolgirl in his presence. Even in her own home she felt as if she were his guest, as if everything around him belonged to him.
Including her.
The first stroke ran smoothly, the blade sharp and true as it slid down Adam's cheek to the defined curve of his jaw. Fresh, tanned, youthful skin appeared beneath the lather, and Cassie wiped the blade on a corner of Adam's blanket before moving to the other cheek.
"Won't Lucius be mad you've given me his clothes?" he asked through frozen lips.
Cassie let out a snort. "I don't think he'll care about a missing pair of jeans once he sees the blood and smells your scent."
Adam remained silent for a moment as Cassie drew the razor across his cheek. "What will he do to you?"
She paused mid-stroke, unsure how to answer. She'd been wondering the same since Adam had first appeared in the forest. "I don't know," she replied slowly, concentrating on her task and curving the blade gracefully around his upper lip. Already he looked better.
Adam met her eyes in the mirror, narrowing them as he sensed the concern radiating from her. "The old man in the kitchen, he warned me that Lucius is dangerous. He told me to get you away from here."
Cassie's hand shook as she slid the razor under Adam's chin. She only wavered a little, but the sharp blade nicked the skin of his neck and drew a bead of blood. She watched as the wound closed in a matter of seconds, leaving the swollen bead resting on clear, smooth skin. "Rutherford is senile. You shouldn't pay attention to anything he says. Lucius is... fine. It'll be OK." She took a clean corner of the blanket and wiped the remaining foam from his skin, exposing for the first time the deep dimples in his cheeks. She only wished she believed her own words. "There, you look much better."
Suddenly Adam reached up and wrapped his hand around Cassie's wrist, his iron grip holding her as if her arm was buried in cement. "You can't lie to me, Cassie. I can smell the fear on you. You know he's dangerous, don't you? You're worried he'll kill you for helping me."
Cassie's eyes widened with fear, and not of Adam but Lucius. She knew what he said was true, and what's more she knew Adam could read her like a book. Staring into those clear, bright eyes she felt her fear and confusion break through the fragile veneer she'd so carefully constructed. Her words flooded out as if a dam had broken. "I can't leave! You don't understand! If I leave there'll be war between our tribes. My people will die! I... I have no choice."
Adam growled and stood from the chair, still clutching her tightly as the blanket fell away from his body. "War? There was a time when wolves would never harm their own. What sort of spoiled child is this Lucius that he'd go to war over an insult?"
Cassie tried to pull her arm away, but Adam's grip held her firm. "You know nothing of the tribes. You don't understand how our society works. You don't know Lucius!"
Adam's eyes darkened, and Cassie could see the rage bubbling just beneath the surface. "I know that alphas once had honor," he growled. "I know they didn't have to use fear to keep their women in check. If this is what has become of your society you should play no part in it."
Cassie squirmed in Adam's tight grip, desperate to flee and yet terrified to leave him. She knew nothing but danger lay in the direction of Lucius, but the fear of the consequences of disobeying him gave her no choice but to submit to his will. She knew she needed to get away from Adam. Being in his presence clouded her mind, filled it with even more doubts than she already had. More than she could handle.
Adam gripped her free arm and pulled her towards him. "Cassie, please --"
"Let go of me!"
The moment she yelled the words Adam felt him pull her sharply, dragging her close. Her mouth met his, almost by accident, it seemed, and as their lips locked it was as if the entire world fell away from them, fading into the background as electricity coursed between their two bodies.
Cassie felt her arms fall limp as Adam released his grip and slipped his hands around her back, drawing her body close to his. She returned his kiss, all thoughts of resistance forgotten. Nothing had ever felt like this. No kiss had ever felt so right. His tongue explored her mouth, sliding across the back of her teeth and thrusting deep inside her. Controlling her. Dominating her.
Adam suddenly pulled away, leaving Cassie to tumble forward to the bed, her lips still pursed as if searching for his. She opened her eyes to find Adam stumbling backwards with a look of shock on his face. The color drained from his cheeks and he reached out to support himself on the bedpost.
Cassie opened and closed her mouth, struggling to make her lips form words. The room spun around her madly, and she gripped the sheets for dear life as if she'd fall forever if she released them.
Finally Adam spoke in a strangled whisper, staring at Cassie with a look of incredulous wonder.
"Did you feel it too?"
Cassie reached her fingers to her lips, staring deep into Adam's eyes. It can't be, she thought. Not now. Not with so much at stake.
Adam couldn't move quickly enough to block her as she stood, shifted as she began to run, and fled from the room as fast as her four legs could carry her.
*
Genesis 29:10 -- And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
Genesis 29:11 -- And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.
Adam sat in the shade of an olive tree, laughing as he watched young Benjamin hop excitedly around a scrawny goat foraging for roots in the dirt. Jacob sat beside him, watching his son with a benign smile; the smile of a man who knew the simple pleasure of basking in the morning sun as his child played.
"We'll have to teach him control soon," he said, rolling a ripe olive from one cheek to the other. "He'll soon be big enough to take on that goat in a fair fight, and I'd hate to lose the milk."
The goat didn't seem to mind the young pup prancing around him. She ignored the wolf, as she ignored everything that couldn't be safely ground between her blunt, yellowed teeth. The creature didn't even seem perturbed when Benjamin shifted back into human form, his tussled mop of brown hair thick with the dust he'd picked up while tumbling in the dirt.
Adam squeezed an olive against the roof of his mouth, spitting the pit to the sand through pursed lips. He chewed, watching Benjamin shrug himself into his dirty robe. "Do you ever miss it?" he asked, after a long silence. "Shifting, I mean. Do you miss it?"
Jacob gazed into the distance, considering the question as a light breeze troubled the graying hairs at his temple. Just three years since he'd moved into the mortal realm the signs of age had already begun to show. "Sometimes, maybe... just for a moment. I remember the excitement of the hunt, of running through the night with the pack, scenting our prey on the wind. It was exciting, I'll admit, but a century was enough. That's all a man needs, and more than most get."
Adam nodded. "You're a lucky man, Jacob, to have received such gifts. First Rachel, and now little Benjamin. I only wish I'm so blessed one day."
Jacob smiled and patted his friend's shoulder. "Your time will come, Adam. God won't make you wait long before he sends her to you."
Adam sighed. "I'm not so sure," he replied. "I've already waited a hundred and fifty years. I think the Lord may have decided to test my will." He chuckled as Benjamin wobbled and tumbled to the ground, still thinking in four legs when he only had two. "Tell me again what it was like, Jacob. Tell me what it was like when you met Rachel."
Jacob smiled at the pleasant memory and fell silent for a moment, searching for words he knew would be inadequate. "What can I say? It was... it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Anything I thought it possible to feel." He reached up to pluck another olive from a low hanging branch, peering at it critically before tossing it to the goat.
"When I met Leah, my first wife, I felt like the luckiest man alive. She was good to me. She was a good, dutiful partner, and I thought I'd love her until my dying day. I still do, as much as it's possible to love a human." Another olive met with his approval and he tossed it in his mouth, sucking the pit from its center.
"But the moment I met Rachel I knew we were fated for one another. Oh, Rachel. You'll never understand until you feel it, Adam. I'd been out hunting for the supper table and I found her struggling to pull the cover from her well, so I helped her roll it away. Didn't think anything of it at the time - you see someone in need, you help them. But then she kissed my cheek in thanks."
His eyes glazed for a moment, and Adam held his breath as he waited for the man to continue. He'd heard the story a dozen times or more, but he could always hear it once more. "It was as if the Lord had reached down from the heavens and blessed us. Just a peck on the cheek was all it took. When she pulled away I looked into her eyes and knew. We both knew."
Adam interrupted, eager to finally ask the question he'd always avoided. "What about Leah? What happened to her?"
Jacob shook his head slowly. "I don't know. I never returned home after that. I'll take the shame to my grave, but it never occurred to me to return. It wasn't home anymore. Home was where Rachel was."
Benjamin ran on stubby legs to the shade of the tree and launched himself into the lap of his father, who laughed and tussled his hair affectionately. Jacob continued. "We had just two years together before she passed. It doesn't sound like much, but it felt like more than the hundred that went before. Oh, Adam, I hope I live to see you find your love. I hope one day to sit beneath this tree and watch your child play with mine."
Adam smiled wistfully. "I hope so too, my friend. I hope so too."
*
Cassie raced through the forest blindly, bounding through streams and clearings, sending birds and small animals scattering in fear at her approach. The forest was on edge, its countless inhabitants sharply aware of the powerful, angry and confused creature that shattered the calm.
Behind her she sensed Adam before she heard him, picking up the scent of him on the wind; a scent that drowned out even Lucius' powerful musk. She sprinted as quickly as she could, but she was no match for her pursuer. With each step he grew closer.
He caught her finally on a high verge, a point at which the canopy gave way to the sky and glowed green in the warm sun. She heard Adam burst through the foliage and pounce, landing heavily on her back and pinning her to the ground. She felt him shift above her, leaving him open to attack but giving him the edge of the use of his hands.
Cassie spun beneath him, twisting her head in a desperate, instinctive effort to fend him off, but Adam's hand shot out and pinned her by her neck before she could even open her mouth to bite. Her eyes swiveled madly, her muscles straining against his superior strength, but there was no escape.
"Ssshhhh," Adam whispered, using his free hand to stroke her coat from her neck down to her hind legs. "It's OK, Cassie. It's OK."
As soon as he spoke Cassie felt her panic begin to die. The fight or flight response that had sent her bolting from the house had left her exhausted, and Adam's soothing words were all it took to begin the purge of adrenaline from her blood. She stopped struggling, and beneath his firm grip she felt her shaking muscles relax. When her body was still and her breath had finally slowed Adam released his grip and climbed off her, settling on a fallen trunk a few feet away.
For a moment Cassie resisted the shift. In her simple, instinctive wolf mind the understanding of what had just happened had begun to filter through, and now her inner wolf had recovered from panic the truth was simple and undeniable. Adam was her fated mate. Nothing else mattered. They would be together for the rest of their lives. There was no question.
Her human mind, however - the complex troublemaker that always sat at the back of the wolf, trying to impose logic where none belonged - needled at her. What about Lucius? What about your tribe? How can you be with him? Cassie knew that the moment she shifted the human side would take over and she'd be forced to answer these questions.
