The Rogue Alpha’s Claim

“I am ready to see your wolf.”

The silence that enveloped the room after Ariel spoke out was enough to tell her that they were not the only ones in the room.

She looked around her; about three pairs of eyes were trained on her, and she wanted nothing but to sink to the floor.

“Oh shit, sorry about that; I had no idea that… I was just…” Ariel gestures towards the door, words failing to come out in the moment she needed them.

“It is alright; I will come for you.” Kane was almost melting at her cuteness, and he was having trouble preventing his smile. He had heard her footsteps even before she came in, and he had been wondering what she had come to do.

Hell, Ariel had been isolating herself from the world, and suddenly she was announcing that she wanted to see his wolf.

Max was beside him with joy, barely able to hold himself, and it took all of him to peel his eyes off his mate and focus on the reason that brought him here.

Toby and Mason shared a knowing look, and they looked at their friend. “It is alright; I know you are no longer interested in the talk.” Toby said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You have our permission.” Mason chipped in, shaking his head.

Kane scrunched his face into a frown as he looked at them, and he was shaking his head. “I don’t think I need permission from you both to do anything. But yeah, thank you.” And he was dashing out of the room before they could say anything again.

Toby watched his alpha run out the door, and he shook his head slowly, wiping the imaginary tears from his face. “Ha, young love. I remember back in the day.” Mason gave him a sharp look, squinting his eyes.

“I heard that, and both of you should get out of my office!” Kane yelled from the corridor, and they both shared a look, smiling.

Toby was the first to stand up, and he rose to his full length, stretching his limbs, while his mouth opened in a yawn. “Let me get something in my stomach before I swallow a whale whole.”

“Sure.” Mason watched him go, closing the door behind him.

***

Meanwhile, Ariel stood against her door, beating herself up for her little slip-up. She should have known it was bad timing, yet she carried herself there.

The knock on the door startled her, and she was almost jumping out of her skin. The rich fragrance in the air reminded her of only one person, and she closed her eyes, sniffing it like her favorite drug.

“Kane?”

“May I come in?” Ariel was rushing to her dresser mirror, staring at her reflection. Suddenly, her nose was too big, and her eyes were etched with dark circles and tiny breakouts forming on her forehead. “Ariel?”

“A minute.” She glanced at her room, kicking the pile of clothes she had thrown on the floor under her bed, and she took another look to make sure everything was in order. Satisfied with the look, she was rushing to the door, and just at the last minute, she smothered her clothes and ran her hands through her hair. “Hey Kane.” She greeted him with a wide smile as she opened the door.

“Ariel?” Kane breathed her name like it was the air he was breathing. “You are here.”

“I mean, it is my room, so I will be here, but yeah, you can come in.” Kane entered her room, and he couldn’t help it. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in his mate’s scent and letting it envelope him.

Her scent filled his nostrils and his lungs, releasing dopamine and working its effect like weeds, and he slowly released the air. “Yeah, I can see.”

“Yea.” They stood awkwardly by the side, and Kane’s attention was drawn to the silver jewelry she had on. He could perceive the pungent smell of wolfbane in her pocket, and his lips parted in a smile.

She wasn’t exactly trusting of them. It was a good thing, though, because he was seconds from devouring her.

“You said something about seeing my wolf.”

“Yeah,” Ariel shrugged, swirling a strand of her hair in her hand. “I figured out it was time I learned of the beast, so yeah.”

“You are not over the beast thing? We are just wolves, and we could be quite friendly. Sometimes.” Kane added it as an afterthought.

“I will be the judge of that. I already saw a pictorial representation on the net, and I refuse to associate that with friendly in the way sentence.”

Kane released a small sigh: “Do you always believe everything you see on the internet?” Ariel had no words for this, so she just remained quiet. “If you are ready, we could go now.”

“Yea sure. Lead the way.” Ariel let him lead the way and followed him behind, making sure she was some steps behind him. In case he was going to try anything, she could see it coming and spray him with the concoction she had made.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

As they made their way down, Ariel couldn’t help but see the pack in a new light. Their coordination was something to be studied, and she didn’t fail to notice the way they lowered their gaze when they saw Kane and the low mumbling of Alpha.

It was all fascinating to her.

They moved like a structured group, everyone laden with their own role, and she had a newfound respect for Kane.

“How did you manage to build this, and how do you have all these people listening to you and doing what you say?” It was all confusing to her; she had once been involved in school politics, and she knew how difficult it was to lead a group of people.

Yet this was a man leading adults, some even older than him, and everything was going well.

“We move in packs, and in this pack, I am the alpha. They trust me to protect and provide for them, and in turn, I earn their respect, plus the pack dabbles in some business that fetches us enough income to survive.”

“Yeah, the distribution company, right? How come I have never heard of it?” Ariel queried him.

“There is no way you could have heard of it; it is only for werewolves.”

Somehow, as they walked, Ariel had quickened his step to be by his side, and they walked side by side. Ariel was a panting mess as she descended the last flight of stairs, and Kane hadn’t even worked up a sweat. “This is unfair; why don’t you have elevators?” She whined as she hunched over, trying to catch her breath.

The firm hands on her back were sending a jolt of electricity through her, and she jerked into a standing position. She looked at the culprit, her eyes slowly opening and closing as if to say, ‘did you just feel that?’ but his expression was neutral, and she dropped it.

“We are wolves; there is no need for it, but I will get one specially installed for you. We are here.” Kane said in one breath, and Ariel squinted her eyes as she looked at him.

Why was he so nonchalant, as if he hadn’t just promised to change everything for her?

She ignored it and ran after Kane, the grass whipping her as she ran across them. They stood in the middle of the garden, and everything hit her-the earthy smell of the grass, the morning dew, the insect chirping as they hopped from one place to another, but more importantly, the musky scent of this man beside her.

“So… Kane!.” Ariel’s voice rose to a shrill pitch as the man pulled his jeans down. “What are you trying to do? We are in public, and anyone could see us.”

“We could take it inside, if you want.” The man teased, wriggling his eyebrows while his jeans kept falling lower to his knees, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“Yea.” She shook her head as she realized what she said. “I mean, no, just stop.” She held out her hands, blocking the image in front of her.

Kane burst out into a rich, robust laugh that had her insides melting and her ovaries singing. “Easy, I am not trying to seduce you. I just need to get undressed to shift, or else I will ruin my clothes.

Ariel almost facepalmed; obviously, that was what he was doing, but why was she angry that it wasn’t the former? She did the only reasonable thing she could think of and angled her body away from him, giving him privacy.

That was the worst torture ever.

Ariel’s breath hitched with every snap of the button, but she held on, shutting her eyes closed, or else she would be tempted to peek.

Her heart skipped a breath as she felt his breath on his neck. “You can look now.”

Ariel opened one eye, just to confirm that the coast was clear, and she opened both eyes fully, just in time to witness the true beauty of man.