The Alpha Wolf (Crystal Forest Lake Shifter Series Book 5) Read online

  “I know because I love him,” I told her, the words spilling from my lips without a thought. “My heart knows he’s not a bad man. I listen to my heart, and so should you. What does it say?”

  “I didn’t want to believe the big shifter man.”

  “He was lying to you. He was trying to get you on their side because they wanted to use you as a weapon against the village.”

  “He taught me things...”

  Her voice trailed off and she looked at where her sister was already in the pond.

  “Can I go?” she asked in an excited voice.

  “Sure,” I told her, climbing on the rock and sitting there while the twins played in the water below. They stayed down there for a long time, and I was glad to hear Chelsey giggling and splashing along with her sister. By the time they were done, both of them dragged themselves out of the water and kept quiet as we started back to the village. I had so many questions to ask Chelsey but didn’t want to overload her. When we got back to the village, we paused outside of Gabriel’s hut.

  “Do you want to say hi to him?” I asked Chelsey, peering at her closely. She gave me a small, shy nod and I knocked on the door. Gabriel answered it with a heavy look on his face, which lightened once he saw that Chelsey was smiling at him. He didn’t say a word but knelt down on his knees and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

  “I missed you,” he said in a slightly choked voice.

  “I missed you, too, Mr. Gabriel,” Chelsey said, and then burst into tears. Gabriel lifted her up and held her against him, stroking her back gently with his hand.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “It’s okay.”

  “I’m sorry,” she wailed.

  “No, no. Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I’m not mad at you. I will never be mad at you.”

  “Do you promise?” she sniffled, pulling back to look at his face. One of those kind, warm smiles lit across his features, giving me butterflies.

  “I promise,” he said. Jane stood there digging her toes into the ground and Gabriel offered his arm to her. She jumped on him, clinging to his other hip, both of them squeezing him tight in their arms. Chelsey yawned and Gabriel hiked them up on his hips.

  “You tired?” he asked. Chelsey nodded sleepily.

  “I’ll take you back to Lily’s,” he said, and left, carrying both girls easily through the village in his strong arms.

  Chapter 13: Gabriel

  “What now?” Sophie asked as we walked away from Lily’s hut where I had dropped the girls off.

  “I want to talk to Sam and Camilla,” I told her.

  “Are they out training?”

  “They usually do it around this time.”

  “What are you going to talk to them about?” she asked, and there was a wary tone to her voice.

  “I’m just going to ask about training, I promise.”

  “You’re not going to be mean?”

  “No, I won’t be mean.”

  “You don’t really get along with either of them,” she pointed out.

  “I don’t get along with anybody,” I said.

  “You get along with Arthur.”

  “Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “We get on pretty well.”

  “Just be nice to Sam and Camilla.”

  “I’ll be nice,” I promised as we crossed into the camp. Nobody was training, and for a moment, I thought the field was empty. I heard Sophie giggle and turned my eyes to see Camilla pressed against a tree, eyes closed as Sam kissed at her neck. I cleared my throat as we approached them and they pulled away. Sam gave me a sheepish smile, but the look on Camilla’s face was blank, borderline hostile as she stared at me.

  “Hi, Gabriel,” Sam said. “Sorry about that.”

  “Are you not training today?” I asked them.

  “We are,” Camilla said dryly. “We’re waiting for the second group.”

  “Is that what you were doing?” I asked. She huffed in response.

  “What can we do for you?” Sam asked, cutting her off before she could speak.

  “I want to join your training. I want both of us to join,” I said. “Sophie and I.”

  “Are we good enough to train you?” Camilla asked.

  “Yes. I’ve seen you both fight.”

  “You always seemed unimpressed before.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I really am.”

  Both Sam and Camilla’s faces flashed with surprise at the words.

  “It’s...cool,” Sam said, exchanging a glance with Sophie, a tone of confusion in his voice.

  “No, it’s not,” Camilla said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “I know,” I said to her. “I know there’s not much I can say. I just want to learn from you. Will you let us join?”

  “Are you going to be a dick?” Camilla asked. “I’m not training you if you’re going to second-guess everything I do. Neither will Sam. We deserve respect for what we do here.”

  “You’ll get it from me. You’ve earned it.”

  “Is this your doing?” Sam asked Sophie with a grin. Sophie said nothing, a small smile playing on her lips as she glanced up at me.

  “We need everyone in this village thoroughly trained and prepared. I’ll be attending every training for practice so that I can teach a group myself,” I told them.

  “We have two levels right now—an experienced group who are currently pairing off and fighting, and a beginner group that works as individuals.”

  “I can do both.”

  “Okay—” Sam began, but Camilla interrupted.

  “No,” she said in a cold, firm voice. “You will attend beginner training and will not move on until we say you’re ready.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sophie flinch, waiting for me to snap. Instead, I gave Camilla a nod.

  “Of course,” I said to her. I heard Sophie let out a sigh of relief.

  “Come back tomorrow. Our experienced group arrives in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Sophie said with a wave back at them as we started back to the village. She paused in the woods once we were away from Sam and Camilla, and I turned around to give her a questioning look.

  “Is this all for me?” she asked.

  “It was,” I said.

  “And now?”

  “I have to protect my people.”

  Her face flickered into a radiant smile that made my heart race in my chest. I went to her, wanting to touch her, pausing before I could. She looked up at my face in anticipation, lips slightly parted, waiting for what I wanted.

  “I’m not going to kiss you,” I said.

  “Oh,” she breathed.

  “You want us to ignore this. You want me to ignore this.”

  “You’re right,” she agreed softly. “You are.”

  “You’ve got to stop looking at me like you want me to taste you again.”

  “I think about it a lot,” she admitted. I realized then that we were standing close together, that I had backed her against a tree and was leaning into her, lips inches apart. It took everything in me to hold back from taking her mouth in a kiss, touching her hips, pulling her against me.

  “So do I.”

  “Is it ever going to get easier?” she asked in a shaky voice, breath heavy against my lips.

  “No,” I said. “We were made for each other. Our bodies want us to bond.”

  “I don’t want to bond,” she said in a soft voice, though she didn’t sound as convinced as she had the last time she’d said it. The tone of her voice gave me a flicker of hope, but I didn’t want to voice it.

  “I know.”

  She sighed and slipped away from me, starting to walk toward the village again. I followed a few steps behind her as we entered the village.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “I want to talk to Jackson.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need him to get some supplies.”

  “For?” she asked.

&
nbsp; “I want to throw a party.”

  She stopped with a confused expression on her face, raising one eyebrow in bewilderment.

  “A party,” she said.

  “Yes,” I told her as I knocked on Jackson’s door. He answered wrapped in a towel, water dripping down his hard body.

  “Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”

  “I need you to go to the ranger station and order supplies for a party. I want it to be big.”

  “A party?” he asked in the same tone that Sophie had.

  “Yes,” I said. “Mostly for the girls’ birthday, but...this place could use a morale boost.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a bad time for a party? Harley could come at any minute.”

  “I don’t think she’s ready yet. I think she’s waiting until more of us are trained.”

  “You seriously want to throw a party for the village?”

  “Yes,” I said simply. Sophie and Jackson looked at each other, equally confused.

  “Okay,” Sophie said slowly. “We’ll throw a party.”

  “Good,” I said. “Don’t tell the girls. I want it to be a surprise.”

  “A surprise,” she said in wonder. I nodded, turned my eyes to Jackson again.

  “Is that okay?”

  “Is that okay...” he repeated. “Are you asking me?”

  “Yes. You might be busy.”

  “I’m not busy. Alicia’s working.”

  “Good,” I said, satisfied that he would have time to run to the station with a list of what we needed. Sophie and I bid him goodbye and started toward my hut. She stared at my face in wonder as we entered the hut.

  “Gabriel,” she said, her face flushed and lips in a soft pout.

  “Yes?”

  “I...can’t ignore it,” she whispered.

  “So come here.”

  “I shouldn’t...” she said, again in a shaky whisper, even softer this time.

  “No, you shouldn’t.”

  “I don’t want to bond.”

  “We don’t have to,” I told her, reaching for her, taking her by the waist and pulling her closer, leaning down to suck on her full bottom lip. She kissed me back immediately, tasting my mouth, her lips urgent on mine. I could feel her need through her kiss, feverish and hungry, fueling my own desire as I moved her body toward the couch. I sat down and pulled her on top of me so that she was straddling my lap, which she immediately started grinding against with her hips as the ravenous kiss grew deeper.

  “How does bonding work?” she asked, tilting her head back so that I could kiss and suck at her neck, her throat, the curves of her shoulders.

  “We’re in love. We’d be in love. We have to both want it wholeheartedly.”

  “What else?”

  “I’d have to fuck you. Cum in you.”

  “O—oh,” she stammered, hips moving more quickly. I could feel her pussy wet even through the layers of her clothes, soaking my jeans as she grinded against me.

  “Is that it?”

  “No. We’d have to do it for hours—for days. To complete the bond. You naked and cumming all over my cock over and over again; me tasting your pussy after every time to keep it nice and wet for me.”

  “Oh,” she whimpered again, burying her face in my neck as she humped my lap, beginning to breathe raggedly as her pleasure built. I wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off and bond with her right then and there, but instead I lifted my hips in a rhythm to rub against her needy clit as she rode my lap.

  “I need more,” she gasped. “I can’t.”

  “Can I touch you?” I asked her as she kissed me again. She nodded and I didn’t hesitate to slip my hand into her panties as I aimed to stroke her slippery pussy with my fingers. I found her clit, traced it with my finger, and before I could go any further she let out a soft moan and shuddered on my lap, soaking my fingers and her panties. I pulled my hand out and put my fingers to her lips, and she sucked them eagerly before sharing her taste with me, kissing my lips.

  “Is that better?” I asked when she slumped down against me, head on my shoulder, catching her breath.

  “Yes,” she said in a relieved voice.

  “Good,” I said, kissing her forehead, rubbing her back with my hand.

  “We’re not in love,” she whispered, sinking against me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

  “You’re not,” I said. “I am.”

  “You shouldn’t say that.”

  “You don’t want me to tell you that I love you?” I asked.

  “I—” she cut herself off, taking a deep breath. “I don’t mind hearing it.”

  “Good.”

  “Does it make you sad?” she asked, lifting her head to look me in the eye with a frown on her face.

  “Sometimes. Not always. I don’t need you to love me.”

  “No?”

  “No. You’re here. You’re in my house. I wake up to you every morning. I get to make you breakfast.”

  “That’s all you want?”

  “I’ll take what I can get,” I told her, kissing her forehead softly. “I’ll take anything you will give me.”

  “I’m not going to be here forever, you know,” she said. “Just until this Harley thing is over with.”

  “You won’t stay?” I asked, and for the first time in our conversation I felt a deep ache in my chest.

  “I can’t. I want to move on. I don’t want to do this.”

  “Then why are you on my lap, Sophie?”

  “Because,” she said. “Because I can’t help it. But once I’m gone, I won’t think about it anymore. I won’t think about you anymore.”

  “Why are you so hell-bent on not feeling anything for me?” I asked, trying to keep my voice soft and curious.

  She didn’t answer but chewed on her lip as she pulled away from me and stood up.

  “Sophie?” I prompted her as she turned her back to me, straightening her clothing.

  “I just keep thinking about you sending me away,” she said in a quiet, sad voice.

  “I’m sorry for that. I am. I was trying to protect you.”

  “You told me you didn’t love me. You let me believe that. Even after I told you...that I loved you, too. You may as well have spat in my face. And all the people you’ve killed or hurt... the misery you put people through.”

  “I’m trying to do better,” I insisted.

  “I know you are,” she responded and sighed. “But it’s not enough. Twice you’ve been cold to me—cruel after I was vulnerable with you. That time in the woods... the first time you...tasted me. Afterward you called me easy. You made me feel worse than I ever had. I don’t deserve that. I deserve a good man who will always be kind to me. I shouldn’t have to live with the threat of being degraded and stepped on again. I won’t.”

  “Sophie, I’m—”

  “Don’t say you’re sorry,” she said, her voice rising, her face screwing up in sudden anger. “I don’t love you because I don’t trust you. How do I know you won’t snap on me again? That you won’t send me away when things get scary for you?”

  “I’m not the one who is afraid,” I snapped at her, standing up. She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I’m not afraid of anything. Nothing.”

  “Okay,” I said to her dully.

  “Okay,” she repeated in a huff, turning to go. She slammed the door behind her and I let out a sigh, sinking back down into the couch.

  Chapter 14: Sophie

  I swallowed the lump in my throat as I left the hut, my head throbbing, irritated and hungry for him again all at once. I huffed as I stomped to Alicia’s hut, not even sure what I was going to say to her. I needed someone to empathize with how out of control it felt to have a natural mate—someone to assure me that it gets better, though I knew that her desire had been satisfied by bonding with Jackson and having their daughter. I hoped she had something to say to make me feel better but expected nothing as I knocked on the door of her hut.

  There
was no answer. I knocked again, trying the handle to find out that it was locked. I grunted with annoyance and started to walk to the medical hut, pausing when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I caught a glimpse of Alicia’s long, dark curtain of hair in the woods. She glanced over her shoulder but didn’t see me as she slipped through the trees. I started to follow her on light feet, squinting in the falling light to see her hurrying forward. She stopped and so did I, ducking behind a tree, watching as she approached a light—the flickering of a fire. I crept forward again, getting as close as I could while still staying in the shadows.

  As I got closer, I noticed a group of people standing around the fire, their heads bowed. I recognized several of them as villagers. Everyone was still and silent, waiting for something. I heard the sound of branches snapping as Harley stepped close to the fire.

  “What’s new?” she asked Alicia, an air of expectation in her tone.

  “I—” Alicia began, but stopped. I could see her wide eyes full of both fear and anger as she stared at Harley.

  “Doctor, I want a status update. Have you spoken to Sophie or Gabriel?”

  “I have. They—they’re not bonded. They lied to you.”

  My breath caught in my throat and I nearly gasped with surprise, covering my mouth with my hand.

  “They’re not bonded...” Harley said in a displeased voice. “Why not?”

  “They say Sophie—she doesn’t want it. They couldn’t bond even if they tried.”

  “That’s bullshit. Sophie’s been in love with Gabriel for over a year.”

  “She’s—she’s not anymore. He was really awful to her. She doesn’t forgive him. She doesn’t want to bond with him.”

  “Hmm,” Harley said. “I don’t like that they lied to me.”

  “They thought they had to,” Alicia insisted. “They had no other choice.”

  “Sophie’s lying about her feelings. Everyone knows that. They just need to fuck.”

  “That’s not how it works, Harley,” Alicia said. “You know that.”

  “If they’re not in love, make them fall in love.”

  “How?” Alicia asked in a bewildered voice.

  “I don’t know—play Cupid. Tell Sophie that she has to be with her natural mate or die. Make something up.”