“Where’s Alix? He’ll take me back to the city,” I demanded, sidestepping away from Ivan just a bit. Both alphas stiffened in my presence and I began to feel a little nervous. The bond between us tightened, tensing as I felt their response to my challenge.
I bristled at their dominance. Now fully sane and past the consuming nature of my estrous, I was of clear mind and I felt like myself. I was strong and had built a career for myself, all based on my own hard work and independence. Ivan and Wolfe stared at me like it didn’t even matter and I growled back at them. They wouldn’t take this away from me.
“Careful, Raven. It isn’t an omega’s place to growl at an alpha,” Ivan warned.
“Any alpha,” Wolfe added sharply, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to allow them to dictate my future. No matter what, I was going to get out of the wilds and back to Tharia. The people back in the city were counting on me. I had to answer to them, and I had to finish my work, completing the improved suppressant and opening the lines of trade between the cities. It was my destiny to change our world.
I wouldn’t let these alpha brothers take that away from me. Alix had to come soon and take me away from these men. Alphas or not, I couldn’t abide by their wishes.
Wolfe met my eyes, cocking his head as his eyes darkened considerably, stormy with confidence and his domineering nature. I took a step back, his gaze intimidating me. Ivan rumbled with caution.
“You don’t want to test him, Raven,” he scolded, trying to warn me but I couldn’t back down now.
I wasn’t an omega in heat anymore. I was a strong woman who knew what she wanted.
Wolfe snarled savagely and my limbs felt like jelly, the bond between us screaming in my head for me to submit to him, but I fought it as hard as I could and held my ground.
“Get her out of the water,” Wolfe demanded. His body language was tense and threatening and I threw myself in the opposite direction in an attempt at escape.
Ivan splashed through the lake and I couldn’t run fast enough. He grasped me around the waist and lifted me from the water, throwing me over his shoulder and walking toward his brother. I could feel his disappointment and Wolfe’s own displeasure with my reactions through our link and I grew anxious.
“Alix! Help!” I screamed, struggling against Ivan’s grasp on my body.
“He’s not going to save you,” Wolfe began. “He’s going to help us take you where you’ll be safe.”
“Back to the city!” I squealed.
“No,” Wolfe answered, shaking his head. I lifted my head, watching as he hooked his thumbs through a thick belt at his waist.
Ivan put me down gently on the shore, next to the two of them and I started to feel uneasy.
“Lie in the sun and dry off. We’ll leave in a short while,” Ivan said, and I shook my head.
“I refuse. I have to go back to the city. Take me back to the ship and I’ll make my way back myself. Alix will accompany me and you two can be on your way,” I replied.
The two of them simply stared at me, almost as they didn’t believe my audacity.
Wolfe glanced at Ivan and tilted his chin, gesturing to a nearby fallen log. He handed his brother a blanket and I moved to take a step back, looking to run. Ivan moved quickly, throwing me over his shoulder once more. He stalked over to the log and tossed the blanket over it, before placing me over top of it. Wolfe followed and I watched in horror as he began to unbuckle his belt, sliding the leather loop out of the buckle and pulling it from his pants. The gentle hissing sound made my skin tingle and I struggled to push myself up, but Ivan straddled the log and held my shoulders down against the firm wood.
Shit.
Wolfe doubled over his belt, slapping it once against his palm and I renewed my struggles. My ass was bare and still damp from the water, even if I could feel the gentle kiss from the sun caressing my cheeks. Trying to push up and get away, I yelled for Alix once more, but Ivan was too strong and I hardly budged.
“Out here, when an omega falls out of line, it is up her alphas to remedy such behavior,” he scolded and Ivan’s hands slid down to my waist, holding me down firmly against the fallen log.
“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to squirm and wiggle out of his grasp.
Wolfe then laid the leather hide against my ass and immediately, I stiffened with alarm. I’d been spanked once during the throes of estrous, but never like this and most definitely never with a man’s belt.
“Often times, our women are punished in front of the entire pack. It teaches a woman humility, that her alpha loves her and will discipline her whenever and wherever she needs it,” Ivan explained, and I cried out with anxiety.
My naked body trembled, and I lifted my head in time to see Alix through the trees. He stopped short, gazing on my naked upturned ass, the belt, and then to Wolfe.
“What did she do?” he asked, barely even raising an eyebrow.
“She thinks she’s going to defy the three of us and return to the city,” Ivan answered, just as Wolfe chuckled. Alix shook his head and looked on at me with disappointment. My heart fell. He wasn’t here to rescue me and bring me back to the city. He was in agreement with the brothers!
“Then teach her to obey her alphas,” Alix finally responded as he sat down on a nearby rock to watch. I screamed, muttering out a thousand obscenities while cursing the three of them but then the leather left my ass and I stilled, my tongue drying as I waited for the inevitability of what was sure to be a terrible punishment.