Bred by the Alpha

“He’s not arrived. I’m not his mate.”

“You are his mate, Rebecca. No matter what you say or how you try to hide it. You’re his mate. He’s a wolf, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t tried to breed you yet.”

The unprotected sex.

Payne burst out laughing. “So he has. Well, I have a good mind to keep you alive. Let’s see if you have his baby. That would be fucking amazing. I kill Liam, take his pack, take his kid, breed you to bear my own children.”

“I don’t know who you are. Leave me alone.” Her old anxieties were coming thick and fast. She wanted to run, but they had her chained up. She’d never been a fighter.

All she wanted was for Liam to come and save her, but he still hadn’t shown up.

“You want to see the magic again?” Payne asked.

The sneer in his voice was clear even though she didn’t look at him.

She shook her head, but that didn’t stop him. Before her eyes, his arm changed from that of a human. She watched the skin split, disappear, and then in its place was that of a wolf. Dark black hair, long claws, and thicker than his human arm.

Screaming, she pushed at him, trying to scramble away, but she didn’t get far. He grabbed her thigh, and she yelled in pain as his claws sank into the flesh. Glancing down, she saw the claws digging into her thigh. If she moved, he’d tear her leg to shreds.

“I’ve heard that human flesh is so damn easy. It’s like cutting through paper.”

She screamed once again as his claws moved the smallest distance. The pain rushed through her body, scaring her, terrifying her.

“You have so many delicate arteries and veins. You nick one and within minutes you’ve bled out and died.”

Her heart started to pound. One of those was in her thigh. The femoral artery. She didn’t want to die.

What did she want?

For this man to just be a bad dream and to wake up safely in her bed. It certainly felt like a living nightmare.

She held still as he continued to stare at her thigh.

“I’d love to watch you bleed out. I love the color red. So fucking sexy.” His claws retracted, and she went to pull her leg against her, but he wouldn’t let her.

Whimpering from the pain, she held herself still. His wolf hand was gone, replaced by his human hand.

“So delicate. I don’t even see the appeal here. You’re nothing. You’re not worthy to have a wolf mate, let alone an alpha.”

He stroked over the red wounds on her thigh now dripping blood.

This couldn’t be where her life ended.

“Sir, something is happening,” one of his men said.

Payne sighed. “He’s taking way too long.”

“You said he’d come for her. You think that would change? He’d change?”

“No. Liam is the kind of man who’d come back for her. I don’t for a second believe he’d just leave her here.” Payne sat back. “He’s not like other wolves. First, he has a thing for dogs, which is just fucking gross. A wolf having a dog for a pet. It’s insulting.”

He always seemed to do a lot of talking.

“Right, I’ll go and see what all the fuss is about. You, my sweet, are so much fun.”

He walked away, and she watched him go as the door to her cage slammed shut. With him gone, she tried to pull her wrist free from the metal cuff he had around it.

She placed it between her legs, and then tried to pull, whimpering as the metal dug into the flesh.

Collapsing on the ground, she stared at her hand, feeling weak. Even if she was to escape, she was completely naked.

Where would she go?

They were wolves.

Actual wolves.

They’d track her down.

Kill her.

Tear her apart.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Everything was just happening too fast.

There was nothing she could do.

Closing her eyes, she saw Liam’s smiling face. The way he’d watched her at the supermarket. The kindness he’d shown in helping her. Alphie by his side.

She hoped his dog was okay.

She loved that dog.

You love him as well.

She sniffled.

Even though Liam hadn’t told her the truth, she couldn’t stay mad at him. He’d gotten underneath her skin and helped her to realize what love was all about. She hadn’t known him long, but she knew him long enough to know that she had feelings for him.

“What if I told you I’m fifty? Twenty years older than you.”

Everything made a lot more sense now. In a way, Liam had been trying to break the news of what he was to her. Asking her questions about wolves, her thoughts, her views. Anything that would help her get used to the thought of him being a wolf.

Was it so bad to think of him like that?