The Hidden Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 2)

“This is nice,” she whispered.

Seth placed soft kisses on her temple, all the while his restless hands wandering over her body. He pulled at her nipples, kneaded her breasts, caressed the sensitive skin on her stomach and pelvis, and his fingers found their way between her folds. This woman was his to love and worship. She was his mate, he could feel it. It was stronger than him, stronger than anything he had known before. His body would never have enough of her body. She turned around in his arms and straddled his hips.

“I want you.” Three simple words and so much determination in her eyes. She took hold of his engorged cock and guided it to her entrance. She lowered herself slowly, her eyes locked onto his. Her walls stretched to accommodate his impressive girth, and Amelia sighed when he was finally buried completely inside her passage.

“So tight…”

She smiled and clenched her pussy around him, enjoying the low growl that made his chest rumble under her palms. Tight? She would show him tight. And hot, and wet. She lifted her hips until only the tip was inside, then lowered herself again, slowly, teasingly. The position and the water wouldn’t allow her to move faster anyway, but she didn’t need to. She wanted to enjoy every second of having that glorious cock inside her wanton pussy. Who knew when they got to do this again? They couldn’t possibly disappear for hours every day, or someone would notice.

“Amelia, you’re driving me insane…” Holding himself back was a real challenge when she was riding him so slowly and deliberately. All he wanted to do was throw her on the bathroom floor and fuck her senseless until he filled her with his seed, but he knew it would only get better if he was patient.

“Just lie back and enjoy,” she whispered between moans. She kept rocking on his cock, rolling her hips from time to time, clenching her walls to draw out more moans and grunts from him. The slow rhythm made her want him even more; sweet, delicious torture that made them fall in love with each other over and over again, until they both felt like their hearts would burst under so much pressure. “Seth…” The second his name rolled down her lips, she leaned in and claimed his mouth with her tongue and teeth. He responded eagerly, his own tongue rubbing against hers, his teeth biting at her lips when she pulled away, his moans calling her back. His cock was too swollen inside her… There was no way he could last much longer, but he knew that after he released the first heavy load, he would have Amelia at least one more time before sunrise.

“Baby,” he whispered against her lips. “Look what you’re doing to me…” He grabbed her hips, his fingers leaving red marks on her pale skin. “I’m coming…”

“Yes…” She moved just a tad faster, clenching and unclenching her pussy rhythmically, determined to milk him to the last drop. For the first time, it crossed her mind that maybe this was a bad idea. What if she got pregnant? But she was too far gone to care. Her stomach tightened and her toes curled when her own orgasm hit her. She felt Seth’s cock twitch inside her pussy and she knew his hot seed was coating her walls. “Oh Seth… I love you…” She closed her eyes and rode the last waves of her orgasm, barely hearing his reply. When her breathing calmed down and she opened them, she saw him staring at her like a humble mortal would stare at his goddess.

They stayed like that, embraced, his still hard cock buried inside her, until the water grew cold. Then, Seth wrapped her in a huge, fluffy towel and led her to the bedroom, where he climbed on top of her and took her hard and fast. Being a shape-shifter had its perks. He filled her with his seed once more, and in another hour he was ready to claim her body again. They fell asleep just as the sun was throwing its first rays over the river.

***

“I would’ve liked to have breakfast with you, but you were nowhere to be found,” said Blake, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Amelia cleared her throat and tapped her lips with her napkin. “I’m… I’m sorry. I slept in.”

Blake chuckled. “It’s okay. I’m glad we got to have lunch.”

Amelia was sure Blake knew about her and Seth spending the night together, and even though it was clear now that she wasn’t cheating or betraying anyone, she still felt a bit uncomfortable talking to Blake about her relationship with her Yako. Or, his Yako… It was really hard for Amelia to address Blake with “he” now that she knew her real identity. Seth had told her it had been difficult for him, Aaron, and Elena as well, but eventually they had gotten used to it. Now, they didn’t even think of Blake as a woman, or addressed her with “she” in private. For their own good, it was better to stick to “he”, least they would make the tiniest mistake in the presence of the wrong people. Amelia kept reminding herself she was in over her head now, and the only way to pull this off was for her to get over the fact that Blake was a woman and focus on the one thing which was truly important: Blake was the Inari Clan Sylfur needed. She took a sip of water, looked at Blake, and furrowed her brows. About that…

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Blake took another bite of her chicken and chewed gratefully. She really liked this, she realized. Having a nice meal with Amelia, making small talk, feeling so comfortable and relaxed around her… Of course, she had felt comfortable with her from the first moment she met her, but it hadn’t been the same thing. Then, Amelia didn’t know many things. Blake couldn’t have said their friendship was real. And there was still a lot left she needed to tell her, but for now it was okay to simply be together and enjoy their lunch.

“I understand why Roman… I mean, why your father would want his own son to take over his clan, but…” Amelia swallowed hard and looked into Blake’s eyes. After she had walked out on her, feeling angry and betrayed, she had thought she would never want to talk to her again. Seth had made everything all better last night. Yes, Amelia had decided to be on Blake’s side, either for Seth’s sake or Blake’s sake, she couldn’t tell… But there were so many things she wanted to know, so many things which she was sure had a great importance on whatever it was they were trying to do. And she was going to ask questions and get some answers even if that meant offending Blake and her father. “I don’t want to be rude, so please don

’t take this the wrong way. But if Clan Sylfur has so many male Inaris, why does your father insist you’re the only one who should take his place? I mean… Sebastian, Julian, Charles, and Damon are his brothers. Why wouldn’t Roman trust them? Seth told me something about them wanting to challenge Roman, but he didn’t make it clear why. Don’t you all have the same interests at heart?”

Blake swallowed and took a deep breath. Peace could never last long, could it? However, she did understand Amelia’s position and she had prepared for this moment.

“That’s the thing, Amelia, they don’t. My father and his brothers have completely different political views, especially when it comes to the peace treaty and the Council of the Six Factions. My father would gladly let any of his brothers rule over Clan Sylfur if he could trust them with keeping the peace and fighting for equal rights between humans and shape-shifters. Unfortunately, my uncles have always made it clear they didn’t agree to the peace treaty. Even long after the war, they tried to convince my father the treaty and the creation of the Council were a huge mistake, a sign of weakness coming from shape-shifters. My father was wise enough to calm them down and explain in the most amiable way that the end of the war and the agreement between humans and shape-shifters brought advantages to both species, and he even managed to get through to them… to some extent. Charles, for instance, was even on my father’s side for a long while after the war. Sebastian and Julian, however, were never completely convinced, and every time Damon came up with some crazy idea of how my father’s power should be challenged, or how the Council’s actions should be questioned, they were more inclined to side with him. That was until my father realized what Damon was doing and asked him to either cut it out, or take his earth and move someplace else.” Blake paused and looked at Amelia, waiting for her reaction. It was a lot to take in, and she didn’t want to confuse her or scare her away.

“Wow!” Amelia placed her fork and knife on the table and crossed her fingers underneath her chin. “I had no idea things were so complicated, although I guess it makes sense. It’s not only about power and who rules over Clan Sylfur, it’s about what they believe in, what they think is fair…”

“You could put it that way…” It was obvious Blake didn’t necessarily agree with Amelia’s conclusion. Even though it was correct and she was perfectly aware people were free to believe in whatever they wanted and stand up for whatever cause they thought was worth it, that didn’t make her uncles’ political position less wrong and damaging. They weren’t the only shape-shifters who strongly believed humans shouldn’t have any rights given their short life spans and physical weakness, but they were still in the minority. There was enough space under the sun for everyone, humans and shape-shifters. This was what Roman had told her when she was old enough to understand, and Blake had never forgotten it. Neither had she forgotten another thing her father had told her countless times: humans were here first; if there hadn’t been any humans, there wouldn’t have been any shape-shifters. Mother Nature kept making this clear even now: the human brides were the ones who ensured the continuation of their species.

“I’m not saying they’re right,” continued Amelia. “In a way, it’s a type of racism.”

“It is, and we don’t know how far they would take it if given the chance. This is why my father needed to have a male heir: to raise him as he saw fit, to teach him to respect all factions. This is why we can’t fail. Sebastian, Julian and Charles seem to be on my father’s side, or they’re pretending. But with him gone, Damon might just influence them again and tip the balance in his favor.”

“What is his endgame anyway?” This Damon guy was a complete mystery to Amelia. He was the only brother she hadn’t met. She was sure he would attend the mating ritual, if she and Blake ever had one.

“We can’t be sure…” Blake shrugged. “And, honestly, it’s better for us to never find out. It could be anything from wreaking havoc for opposition’s sake, which would put the whole clan in danger, to actually trying to form some kind of resistance and starting a new war between humans and shape-shifters.”

“Would they be able to do that? I mean… there would be four Alpha fox-shifters against the whole world. It would be crazy to even think about it, let alone try it.”

Blake sighed and pushed her plate away. She had lost her appetite minutes ago. “I wouldn’t bet on it. Father says there must be more shape-shifters loyal to the same insane cause, otherwise Damon wouldn’t have pushed things so far as to get himself nearly banned from the clan. It’s driving me mad that we can’t know for sure, that we don’t have more information. What we do know is that we must never let our guard down.”

Amelia looked at her food and asked herself if she was still hungry. She reached for the glass of water instead. “You mentioned something about the Council… So far, this seems to be an inside problem.”