The Hidden Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 2)

“Don’t…” He bit her neck and she moaned, then swallowed hard and pushed again against his chest. “Don’t call me that.”

He finally got the point and looked her in the eyes. “What’s wrong? There’s something wrong and you don’

t want to tell me.”

She disentangled herself from his arms and put some distance between them. The fact that he was in her room made her very uncomfortable. Even though Blake’s room was at the opposite end of the corridor, she couldn’t know how sharp a fox-shifter’s hearing was. She smoothed down her clothes.

“Of course there’s something wrong!” She turned away, ignoring the hurt she saw in his eyes. This had to stop. Seth had to leave her alone and she had to at least try to get over him. It didn’t help that he was looking at her with those big, puppy eyes.

Seth sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had hoped she would play along, given that Blake was clearly not interested in her, but it seemed that Amelia truly was one of a kind. Of course she was. Last night she had told them how much Alma Venus had meant to her. She was one of the few shifter-brides who didn’t have a vendetta against the peace treaty and all shape-shifters, and that made her loyal to her Alpha even though she felt nothing for him and their marriage had not been consummated. “And would never be,” he thought. He couldn’t live without her, he couldn’t sleep at night without her warm body pressed up against his. He couldn’t stand seeing her so distressed either. How could he tell her there was nothing to feel guilty about without revealing everything about Blake Sylfur? He rubbed his temples in an attempt to chase away the impending headache. This couldn’t go on like this. Blake had to man up - “Man up… what a joke,” he thought. - and tell her the truth. They had to take things further anyway, and by now they were all convinced Amelia was the right choice for their insanely weird plan. No one knew how much time Roman had left.

“Baby, come here…” he begged.

“No.” She resisted the urge to turn around. If she saw his handsome face and tight body, she wouldn’t be able to help it. His raging erection was so visible underneath his leather pants that instead of asking him to leave, she would have probably fallen to her knees and taken his cock out to give him one hell of a blow job. Her pussy throbbed with the need to be filled, and Amelia cursed her weakness.

He took a couple of steps towards her and tried to hug her from behind, but she jumped as if his hands had just burned her skin.

“Look, we can’t do this anymore, we just can’t. It’s not fair.” She turned around, determined to keep her eyes fixed on his face and not let them roam over his body. “Yesterday I cheated on my husband, Seth. Do you comprehend that? Can you at least bother to make an effort to wrap your mind around it? He is the son of your Inari! He will be your Inari when Roman will be too weak to rule over the clan!”

“Amelia…” He didn’t know what he could tell her, so why was he trying?

“No. We must tell him. He cares so much about us. If you won’t tell him, or if we won’t do it together, then I’ll do it alone.”

“Okay, stop right there. We’re not telling anyone anything. Not just yet.”

“What do you mean not just yet? What universe do you live in? He will send me back to Alma Venus, I know that, but I don’t care. I love you, Seth, but I can’t do this. It makes me feel too miserable, too filthy and worthless.”

“Please don’t say that…”

“How can you be so calm? Don’t you feel even a little bit guilty?”

Seth sighed, lips pursed and jaw clenched tightly. What had he expected anyway? He had been such a dumbass.

“So you have nothing to say to that. Nothing.” Her eyes grew wide with surprise. How could he be so insensitive? Had she judged him wrong? Maybe he wasn’t the man she had thought he was. “I see…”

“I’ll fix this.”

“Will you, Seth? Will you?” She almost screamed at him, hands flailing in wide, exasperated gestures.

“Trust me…”

“Trust you? I don’t trust you. In fact, you know what? I don’t want you here. Get out of my room!” She went straight to the door and opened it for him.

“Amelia…”

“Out!”

His shoulders slumped in resignation. For now, there was nothing he could do but listen to her. Telling her what she needed to know was not his call. It was Blake’s. Unfortunately, he knew his friend and future Inari well enough to remind himself Blake could never be rushed.

***

The room was too small, she couldn’t breathe properly. She opened the window to let in some fresh air, but it didn’t help. Since Seth had left, she had been pacing relentlessly, her mind working on finding a solution. But there was no other solution, and she knew it. She took a deep breath then headed to the door with big, determined steps, threw it open and started down the corridor towards Blake’s room. She almost ran, not giving herself time to reconsider, time to change her mind. Her hand shook as she knocked on his door.

“Come in, Amelia!”

Of course he had heard her, maybe even smelled her from behind the door. Could he also smell her fear?

Blake closed the book he was reading, rounded his desk and came to greet her. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on her face. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you all right?” He closed the space between them and took her pale cheeks between his cold palms. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”