The Hidden Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 2)

“I’m sorry, Amelia, I’m so sorry. I’m not delusional… I know you might never forgive me for what I… we… did to you. There was nothing I wanted more than to tell you the truth the moment you got here, but I couldn’t.” He kissed the top of her head, lingering just enough to inhale the flowery scent of her shampoo. “I don’t deserve you. You’re a beautiful, bright woman who deserves a real Alpha, not a Beta fox-shifter who’s not even in charge of his own life.” He took a deep breath and swallowed down the bitter taste in his mouth. It was painful to admit these things. In fact, it was painful to voice them, not to admit them. He had admitted them a long time ago. “Fox-shifters are a messed up species. No wonder not only humans are reluctant to us, but also the other shifter factions. We’re selfish, greedy, sly… While dragon-shifters are noble, werewolves are proud and loyal, werebears are kind, and eagle-shifters are fair and easy-going, we only think of ourselves. But that’s… that’s not the point…” He paused and looked at the starry sky. “I’m not trying to find excuses by saying it’s in our genes. That would be stupid. I’m just saying… you deserve better. You deserve better than me, than Blake, than Clan Sylfur and the whole fox-shifter faction alltogether.”

Amelia was silent. She couldn’t deny that Seth’s words were putting her mind at ease, reassuring her that he cared. After everything that had happened, she should have hated his guts. How could a woman love a man despite him having lied to her? It didn’t matter that he was forced by his duty towards his Inari and his clan. When a man loved a woman, not even his duty should have been more important than his loyalty to her. She smiled at her naïve logic. This only happened in fairy tales and romance novels. Real life was much more subtle and complex.

“Now that we’re here, I might as well tell you everything,” he continued. “When I interviewed all the Vulpes brides at Alma Venus, I skipped you for a reason.”

Amelia tensed. She still hadn’t gotten over that particular defeat, and even after Seth had confessed his feelings, she had thought back to that day from time to time, wondering why he had called her in last.

“I saw your picture in the House Vulpes catalog and I knew you were the one. I don’t know why, or how. I can’t put it into words. When a shape-shifter finds his mate, something happens… something strange and unexpected. There’s no logic to it. We just know. And right then I knew you were my mate. That’s why I didn’t want to interview you for Blake. My plan was to find a suitable bride for him, then come back to Alma Venus and buy you for myself.”

Yes, Seth always referred to Blake as “he”, just as everyone else, even when they were alone and Blake could afford to let the mask fall. It was safer that way.

“I wanted to ask the headmistress to take your profile out of the catalog, but things didn’t go as planned. None of the other girls proved to be what I was looking for, and it was already too late to start going from one boarding school to the next until I finally found the right bride to help us take over Clan Sylfur when the time came. Roman was getting worse by the day and there was no time to waste. Deep down, I hoped you wouldn’t be good for Blake either. But you were. In fact, you were better. You are better than any of us deserves.”

Amelia shifted so as to look up at him. She immediately got lost in his deep, purple eyes. God, he was so handsome! That light blond hair casually sticking into his eyes, that square jaw covered in stubble… He usually shaved every day, but now he looked as if he had been too preoccupied to care. Too preoccupied with her…

“You really wanted to buy me for yourself?”

“Yes. There was nothing I wanted more than to make you my bride. Still isn’t.”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a long minute, then Amelia gave in and pressed her lips to his. Seth sighed into the kiss and squeezed her hard when her cold fingers found their way into his hair. Their tongues teased each other slowly, taking their time to explore the other’s mouth. Amelia’s pussy clenched with desire, and she knew Seth was already hard and ready to fill her. No matter how upset she was, there was no way she could resist him, resist his perfectly sculpted body and the mere thought of his long, thick cock inside her. They were both panting when they pulled apart.

“You’re cold.”

“Yeah…” Amelia smiled and snuggled against his chest.

“Let’s get you somewhere warm.”

“I don’t want to go back home…” Her words came out muffled. Talking into his shirt was a bad idea, as her mouth was now full of fuzz she had to spit out. He wasn’t wearing a jacket either, but he was a fox-shifter. He didn’t need extra clothes to keep him warm.

“Who says I’m taking you to the mansion?” He stood up, pulling her with him. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, then motioned for Amelia to lift her arms. “There you go… This should keep you nice and warm until we get to the cabin.”

Amelia’s eyes widened at the sight of his smooth, delicious chest. She didn’t think things could get better until he reached for the buttons of his jeans and started undoing them.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s too col

d for a long walk, so you’re going to ride on my back.”

She almost jumped in excitement. Since she had seen Seth turn a few days ago, she had been dying to see him in his fox form again so she could actually touch his white fur. And now she was going to ride him? How cool was that? Oh, she couldn’t wait to ride him in a whole different way once they got to his cabin.

Seth threw his jeans, underwear and socks at her, but left his boots on the ground. Amelia fumbled with the clothes a bit, then decided she could fit the boots in a small bundle if she tried. She almost dropped the whole thing when she saw Seth standing before her in all his naked glory, his hard cock pointing right at her. He smirked and started turning. Amelia watched in awe how white fur sprung out of his skin and his features molded into a long snout. Bones popped and snapped, muscles rearranged themselves, and soon Seth was a white fox towering over her, just a tad taller than in his human form.

“Oh my…” whispered Amelia. She looked into his eyes, then gathered her courage and touched his cold, wet nose. Being face to face with such a beautiful, majestic animal was intimidating, but she knew the white fox was Seth, the same Seth who had told her she was his mate. He would never hurt her, and she knew all shape-shifters were in complete control of their instincts. “This is incredible.” The fox licked her palm and she giggled.

She rounded him, her fingers combing his soft, white fur as she moved her hand up and down his side. She stopped when she reached his hip, aware that he would surely hate it if she tried to touch his tail. That was when it struck her that Seth had a single tail. The first time he turned in front of her, she had been too aroused by his strong body and the nice view of his ass to notice this. What did it mean? Probably that Seth had never cared about growing more tails. As the Yako of Roman Sylfur, he was already one of the most influential members of the clan, so he focused on keeping Blake safe so she could study and prepare for the moment when she’d become the main Inari.

All these things were going through Amelia’s head when Seth leaned on his forelegs to allow her to hop on his back. She made sure she didn’t drop his clothes as she straddled him and sunk her right hand into the rich fur of his neck. At Alma Venus Boarding School, she had learned how to ride, just as all the other girls. Horses. Not foxes.

***

Seth had Amelia in his arms the moment they stepped over the threshold. She let the bundle of clothes drop on the floor and lost herself in his arms, closing her eyes and moaning softly when his tongue sought hers. He slammed the door shut and grabbed the back of her thighs, to which she responded by wrapping her legs around his waist. She could feel his rock-hard erection pressed right between her legs. If only she had gotten rid of her clothes too, Seth could have entered her in a swift motion.

“I’ll run a hot bath,” he whispered against her lips.

“That sounds wonderful.” She wasn’t cold anymore, his body heat and the make-out session having warmed her up quite nicely, but she couldn’t refuse his offer. “Oh, wait! What are you doing?” She yelped when Seth started towards the bathroom door with her still wrapped around his body. Amelia tightened her grip when she felt herself slip just a couple of inches down as he moved.

Seth smiled and squeezed her waist. “Don’t worry, baby, I won’t drop you.” With his free hand he switched on the light in the bathroom. Amelia was as light as a feather, so he didn’t need more than one hand to hold her up.