AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When she didn’t move, he twisted at the bond. A tangible force that snarled around her spine, tugging her forward one shuffling step at a time until he could drag her up beside him. Suffocating her under his massive bulk, he smoothed back her hair with a faint rumble. Pleased with himself that she’d become compliant, no matter how she raged inside her head.
“None of that matters anymore. You don’t need any of that now. Your Alpha provides for you, protects you. I am the one who gives you everything you need.”
“What if you can’t,” Devin whispered against him as he brought her lips to the still angry looking mark.
“I let you mark me, girl,” Rey growled, setting his mouth to the vicious wound at her shoulder. “That’s more than any other Alpha would have ever given you. See it for the gift it is.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“You never do, sweetheart. Now show me how thankful you are for the Alpha who claimed you.”
Devin gasped, the thrill of sizzling heat twining up her spine, rushing through her thoughts until all that remained was desperate need. She whined as she reached for him, pulling at the annoying clothes that dared to separate them.
* * *
Devin paced up and down the narrow hall at the back half of the house, high heels hammering the tense quiet infiltrating every room.
Rey promised to take her out, even if it was just to a restaurant. She’d taken hours getting ready, making sure everything was perfect, right down to the false lashes and deep rose lipstick. She hid away the dark bruises under her eyes, the gauntness of her face beneath the heavy layers of makeup. The short, ruffled hem of her navy skirt skimmed her thighs, the tailored jacket accentuating the fullness of her breasts with a silky white blouse to complete it all. She’d even made sure the edges of his mark showed plain as day. The heels were the icing on the cake, the graceful four inches making her legs go on for miles.
All of it for nothing.
He’d emerged from his office two hours after the agreed upon time, calling over his shoulder to just be patient as he’d opened the front door to admit a bevy of dark-suited men.
That was three hours ago.
Breaths coming faster, Devin clenched her fists. Imagined it was his neck between her hands, satisfying herself with wrenching on the slimy heat in her chest connecting them. Let him fumble behind those closed doors. Let them see her bring him to his fucking knees for treating her like this.
“Someone’s pissed.”
Devin stumbled, almost losing her balance as she wheeled around to face the strange voice. She didn’t know him, nothing about him familiar. He could be any one of the dozens of faces paraded in and out of the house when she was locked away, kept out of sight.
“What of it,” Devin asked with a haughty cant of her chin. A sniff added for good measure, she denied the rush of cold fear sluicing through her veins as the man pushed off from the wall. She had no idea how long he’d been there, watching her and her building frustration. So caught up in her anger, in hurting Rey, she failed to pay attention.
“Feisty, too,” the man murmured as he came closer, stalking strides countering his prey’s every move as Devin edged towards the safety of the kitchen door. “Who do you belong to, I wonder?”
It wasn’t a question, but Devin’s lips thinned. He had to know, was baiting her somehow, but the nagging doubt was just strong enough that she pinned back her shoulders and met his brazen russet gaze head on.
“I’m Rey’s. So back off.”
“When did Rey get himself a little piece? I don’t remember hearing about you, and I wouldn’t forget something so pretty.”
Sneer tugging at her lips as she readied to tell the man off, it took a sheer act of will for Devin not to scream her terror as an arm came around her hips. A second later, the scent of cinnamon and the velvety cruelty of Beau’s chuckle assured her she wasn’t going to be assaulted by a stranger.
“And why would anyone be telling a nothing like you anything, Sam?” Confident, crisp, he acted like everything was as it should be. The sharp edge of his nails digging deep into her hip said something different, a wealth of pain waiting for the first opportunity for him to unleash it.
Devin sighed and sidled closer. Not leaning into Beau, there was nothing erotic about it, but it put her in the very clear circle of his protection. Everyone knew he and Rey were partners.
“Well, now,” Sam said through an ugly twist of his lips, head cocking at a curious angle. “Maybe he’s sharing it with you, at least. Guess his scraps are as good as you get these days, eh?”
Sam laughed at his own joke, slapping a hand against his thigh. The sound drew the attention of several others as they filtered out of the office.
Devin wanted to die right then and there.
“You’re just pissed no one will spread for you without you paying for it first, boy,” an older man said through a growl, cuffing Sam on the back of the head so hard it sent him flying into the wall. “You show respect for a man’s mate.”
“What the fuck do you know, old man,” Sam hissed as he lunged up from the floor, shaking off the restraining hands of others.
“I know your father is rolling in his grave with how you’ve brought his name so low.” Grunting, he dismissed Sam as if he was a buzzing fly despite the glittering rage held within the deep brown of Sam’s eyes. In an even stranger turn of events, the older man smiled at Devin, nodding his head in what she could only perceive as friendly politeness.
