Real Alphas Bite (The Alpha-Hole Duet 1)

Syn

Startled, I recoiled until my back hit the kitchen counter, trying my best not to go into complete panic mode.

Caspian swung around, seemingly taken aback by the intrusion, while Hendrix studied me like he was seeing a ghost, or more like he was pissed that I was out of my room. I had no idea not even his brother could escort me to the kitchen.

But the real worry was the new guy who’d burst into the kitchen with us. Alarm bells went off in my mind, and my heartbeat did a stutter. I’d seen men like him back at the Howler Bar, instantly recognizing the type—brash and pushy.

“Shit, River,” Caspian barked back. “Want to scare the hell out of her?”

“Do you mean I scared you?” He smirked, then turned back to me.

Wild, chestnut hair framed River’s strong face, and he didn’t even seem to notice Hendrix giving him a death glare. Instead, he watched me, his head tilting to the side. His black tee stretched across his chest and biceps, his designer jeans hanging low on his hips. They had a few dark stains on them, and was it wrong that my first thought went to them being blood?

“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing here?” Blue eyes shone as brightly as the sky outside. Sharp cheekbones I’d expect on a statue of an Adonis coupled with the shadow of growth across his jawline, and a devious look in his eyes, and it was no wonder my knees weakened. I somehow doubted that was the reaction I should have had to a man who was capable of tearing my throat out with ease by the sheer mass of him. He stood just shy of reaching Hendrix’s height, he was muscular, and he had a wild streak behind his gaze.

My attention swept from one brother to the next. Caspian was the largest, a bear in size that towered over me. Hendrix was only slightly smaller, but he radiated so much dominance and power, it was almost suffocating. River, though, well, he slightly terrified me more than the other two somehow. There was something in his gaze, something that told me he was the kind to fly off the handle and think about his actions after the fact. But of course, I could be completely wrong. I should be scared of each of them equally.

“H-hi, I’m Syn,” I managed to say, holding myself tall… which was still small considering all three of these men stood over six-foot.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” River said, folding his hands over his chest, though the playfulness of his words sounded more sarcastic than a kind reminder.

“You’re a dick,” Caspian responded, standing by the fridge, watching everything unfold. “There’s your answer.”

“She arrived today,” Hendrix interrupted, leaning a hand on the kitchen island, seeming to make himself comfortable, while I was sweating up a storm. “I brought her from the Madfur pack to live with us.”

River ran a hand through his hair, looking me up and down with a smirk. “Why? Is she our new cock-sucking whore? Has Caspian grown tired of his?” He turned towards Caspian. “What’s that girl’s name you like, Katie?”

I bristled at his comment, insulted that he'd say such a thing in front of me. Jerk. I cleared my throat. “Like I told Caspian, I will not be sucking any of your cocks...ever.”

“Oh, she’s feisty.” River smirked, offering me a grin that should turn me off… when in reality, it did the opposite. “That warms my insides.”

“Don’t worry, I’m charming at first, but that will pass very quickly,” I snapped back, having had my share of comments from difficult customers at the bar, even if it sometimes resulted in me getting yelled at.

“I like her.” River smiled wider.

Hendrix never took his gaze off me. “It didn’t take you long to win over Caspian, judging by the fact that you’re standing in front of me. Maybe I underestimated you.”

I tensed, my gut churning as I felt as though he was setting me up and wouldn’t believe anything I said.

Caspian approached me, unscrewed the lid from the water bottle, and handed it to me. “It was my decision,” he responded to Hendrix. “If she was truly a prisoner, brother, then she’d be in the dungeon in the basement, not in the room with the best view of the ocean.”

With all three men watching me, I felt like I’d stepped into the lion’s den and I was the sacrificial lamb. I feverishly gulped down half the cold water, cooling the heat that burned through me from feeling cornered. It also gave me a chance to work out my next move while Hendrix looked ready to haul me back upstairs.

I couldn’t help but admire them, though. These brothers were easily the most beautiful men I’d ever seen in my life. Their presence alone already had me instinctively sticking my chest out, making me worried that I might have lost my mind.

Hendrix swung toward Caspian. “We have staff to deliver her anything she wants in her room.”

Caspian rolled his eyes. “Chill the fuck out. I was giving her a tour of our mansion.”

River shook his head. “I’m still not sure what’s going on here. Why is she now living with us again?”

“Because Hendrix took her as payment for the late dues from the Madfur pack.” Caspian’s jaw set rock hard.

River nodded his head, the corner of his mouth twitching into a tight curl, like the idea of me being here conjured all kinds of ideas I didn’t want to know about. “Okay, so she’s ours to do as we please?” He sauntered closer to me, studying me, so close I breathed in his masculine cologne.

I squared my shoulders, my breaths rushing at his words. I hated when people spoke for me like I wasn’t even standing in the room. Asshole.

River stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I can work with this.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?I learned long ago to bite my tongue, but with these three, it was becoming harder to do, even with them being way more dangerous than anything I’d come across in my pack.

River’s gaze invaded every inch of me, and the temptation to fold my arms over myself would only mean he won. Under his scrutiny though, my cheeks heated up, burning with embarrassment.

“Oh, she’s blushing. She is just too adorable. Who gets to break her first?” River asked with a bit too much glee in his voice. “Please, let it be me.” River moved to the fridge to collect a bottle of water for himself.

Hendrix cleared his throat. “Stand down, River.” He closed the distance between us and collected me by the elbow. “Let’s go.”

I resisted him, digging my heels into the tiled floor and wrenching myself away from him. “I want to see the house, please. If I am going to be living here, shouldn’t I be privy to where everything is?”

A strangled snort came from Caspian. “She has a point.”

I could kiss him right now for standing up for me. And I might be pressing my luck, but I wouldn’t give up. The idea of living with them worried me a lot, so the thought of fleeing at the first chance I got played on my mind.

“If you want me to live in this mansion, then you should give me some liberty. Weren’t you the one who said you wanted me to be happy? Well, being locked in a room doesn’t bring me any happiness.”

I didn’t belong here… in truth, I had no idea where I belonged, but it wasn’t with deadly Alphas either.

“Liberty?” he snarled. “You seem to be under the illusion that you have free reign. I own you, and I’ll decide what you can do.”

“I bet you’re a pretty wolf, aren’t you,” River interrupted. “Let’s take her out hunting. I want to play.”

“No!” Hendrix boomed.

I gasped at his sudden voice, a chill zipping down my spine. When Hendrix met my gaze again, I found his eyes had changed. The deep blues were sharper, almost darkening, and red sparks were visible, as though his monster wolf was trying to come through. I wanted to scream at him, especially after he spent so much time showing me around town, spoiling me only to keep me closed up so I couldn’t go out.

“Do what you want with her, then,” River muttered and strolled out of the kitchen, throwing over his shoulder, “Just let me know when it’s my turn to play.”

Over my dead body. I gritted my teeth at his flippant remark.

Caspian, on the other hand, had a shoulder against the refrigerator, arms folded across his wide chest, watching everything. Part of me wondered if he stayed just in case his brother went off the rails with me.

“I want you protected,” Hendrix told me, his voice tamed down.