Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 13

Damn that bastard! And damn the Moon for this damn bond! Dammit! None of this would be happening if fate hadn’t somehow decided this Alpha with violent tendencies and a short fuse, was supposed to be my mate. I wouldn’t be feeling so hot under the collar right about now. And images of writhing naked beneath his perfect and sculpted body, while he thrust again and again, wouldn’t be saturating my mind. I shivered.

Leander licked his lips like he planned to make a meal out of me when we were done chatting, and continued, “However, a Claiming Ceremony between an Alpha and his rightful Luna is different.”

My sweating increased. How much more graphic was he going to get? To my utter horror, the answer to that question was a shitload more. And he was so lovely and considerate to describe the events in first-person. Of course, he couldn’t recount the details as though speaking about any old Alpha and Luna. Oh, no, the Alpha who positively oozed sexuality in front of me, had to keep using words like you, me and we, which made it all the more salacious and obscene to my sensitive virgin mentality. I forced myself not to hyperventilate while he spoke.

“A Claiming Ceremony is a three-day celebration that involves the pack and us,” Leander began.

My mouth dropped open. I just couldn’t help it. I waited for him to explain how in the world the pack was going to celebrate this momentous occasion with us.

“When you go into heat, we’ll go to a small cottage built especially for this event. All of the mated pairs will join us. They’ll surround the cottage, listening. And when they hear you o****m, their celebration of feasting and dancing will begin.”

What?!

No. No way. There was no way he could be serious.

But, while clearly enjoying the conversation, there was no hint of sarcasm or intended humor in his demeanor.

Oh f**k. He was serious.

Just how many people made up the number of mated pairs? And all of them were going to surround the building, just waiting to hear me squeal like the true bitch in heat I’d be like I was some s****l titillation dinner bell, letting them know when it was time to eat?!

I sucked in a deep breath, trying unsuccessfully to regulate my air. In. Out. In. Out. Maybe he had a brown paper sack tucked in his desk somewhere into which I could breathe.

“During our lovemaking, not only will I come inside of you, creating an heir, but we’ll also prepare our bodies for the mated pairs.” He stopped and waited, staring at me intently.

Maybe his pause was due to my cherry red cheeks, or possibly, eyes wide enough to rival any doe hanging out in traffic. I blinked several times. This entire conversation had to be a bad dream, a nightmare. Any minute now, I’d wake up.

Several more blinks.

Nope. Definitely already awake.

My voice was hoarse, “What do you mean ‘prepare our bodies for the mated pairs’?”

Violet eyes held steady on mine. “Our combined cum has special properties during the Claiming. We’ll rub it in all over our bodies.”

Oh, sweet mother, he did not just say that!

The pressure in my skull increased. Much more and my eyeballs would pop right out.

Okay. I narrowed down that I wasn’t asleep.

But that didn’t mean I was lucid.

Because this shit just couldn’t be real.

Even in my worst nightmares, I never conjured images of having this conversation with the monster.

If Lucky spiked my food with cannabis again, I was going to kill him. Although, nothing so mediocre as weed could bring on this surrealistic mumbo-jumbo of nonsense in my head.

Welp, I was already on the ride. Might as well see where it takes me. I waited, wondering if a pretty pink pony with a glittery horn was going to walk through the door next.

I loved unicorns.

My creative little illusion kept talking, “When we emerge, the mated pairs will rub against our skin. Don’t worry. It’s only the same-s*x. Females to you and males to me.”

Of course, it’s only the same s*x. That’s logical, I maniacally agreed, and asked casually, “And why would the mated pairs want to rub the cum off our bodies?”

Leander’s eyebrows rose in surprise, probably due to the change in my tone and demeanor. But since none of this was real, there was no cause for me to be embarrassed and I was curious to see just how crazy my imagination was.

He waited for a beat, still studying me oddly and then continued, “Because it holds power. Once the mated pairs have it on their skin, they will copulate and be able to conceive pups- even without the females being in heat.”

“Oh that’s nice,” I murmured under my breath.

The Alpha’s brows rose even higher. Any more, and they’d get lost in his hairline. He gently took my hand in his. “So you’re okay with this?”

Tingles shot through my body at his touch, startling me into perfect awareness again.

Oh shit, I wasn’t hallucinating!

This was real.

Everything he said was real.

I jerked my hand out of his grip like he had some communicable disease. His mouth formed a thin hard line, but he pulled away and didn’t reach for me again.

“No…” I mumbled, shaking my head firmly. “No…I won’t do that with you.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, his response hard, “You don’t have a choice. I didn’t pick you. The Moon did. So there are no options here for either of us.”

I hissed sarcastically, “It’s heartwarming when you remind me just how much you don’t want me, whilst in the middle of trying to convince me to, let’s see: have s*x with you, rub your cum all over my body, and then share it with everybody who would like some.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he replied, flustered for the first time in our conversation. “I simply meant to illustrate that I was in the same position you are. We’re in this together, like it or not.”

Fury rolled over my countenance. “So that’s it then? You’re just going to force me so that you can have an heir and everyone else can get pregnant? That’s the sum value of my worth? The future pup in my womb, and the pups made by this disgusting ceremony?!”

Leander’s eyes widened. “Of course, I’m not going to force you.” He sounded insulted. “I’ve never had to force a female into my bed, and I’m not starting with you!”

Again, that unwelcome jealousy splashed over me hard and sharp. I rejected the image of him naked with another woman, shoving it from my mind.

Abruptly, Ever interrupted our conversation, spitting derisively, “Not everyone is as lucky to be able to conceive as a Luna. It wouldn’t kill you to think about someone other than yourself for once.”

“You think I’m selfish?” I asked incredulously, my voice raising.

His arms crossed over his chest, the muscles in his neck corded. He just stared at me as if he’d made his point.

He hadn’t.

“Okay. Since you think I’m abhorrently selfish, let me ask you this. Would it be okay if I was a female you actually gave a shit about?” My voice rose even higher, fury vibrating through my chest as I spat, “What if it was your mate in my position? Would you so easily send her to be violated against her will and used for who knows how many people? Would you be perfectly okay, knowing it would tear her apart inside and leave her empty and broken? Is that the kind of male you are?!”

His voice lowered into a deadly threat, “Do not talk to me about my mate being in pain and suffering. You know nothing of true heartache and loss. You haven’t seen her wailing to the Moon. You haven’t seen her Wolf howling songs of agony, begging to know why she’d been forsaken. Pleading to know what she’s done wrong. And when no answer comes- because it never does-the process starts all over again on the next cycle. Raging guilt that causes her to claw the flesh off of her belly. Begging for my forgiveness because she somehow believes it’s her fault.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple working in his throat. His expression twisted into a personal hell I would never know. “How…how could she believe any of it was her fault?” he whispered under his ragged breath. I didn’t think he was talking to me anymore, voice raw with emotion, revealing months, maybe years, of trying to convince his mate otherwise.

I sat frozen, listening to his heartache, hating it, wanting to do something to fix it but not that. I just couldn’t.

Leander interrupted the tense moment, catching my attention again by gathering both of my hands in his much larger ones. He leaned toward me and spoke with a gentleness I never expected him to be capable of, “I know this is hard for you. But a pack is a family. We make sacrifices for family.”

That was just the problem.

I shook my head again and replied evenly without emotion, “I’m not going to be your sacrificial little lamb. I’m not a part of your family or your pack…and I never will be.” I turned my attention to the elder Alpha, and this time, I held his gaze as I said coldly, “I think you’ve made that perfectly clear.”

His face remained expressionless, revealing nothing.

Leander pulled my attention back to him. “I know you don’t feel that way right now…and that’s our fault.” Surprisingly, sending his own angry glare at his father before refocusing on me and continuing softly, “However, why don’t we just spend some time getting to know each other? It will make it easier if we’re at least comfortable with one another?”

I’m sure it would make it easier for you, I thought bitterly. The disgusting enforcer had been clear when pinning me beneath him. The almighty Alpha was determined to get everything he wanted out of me first. Apparently, his a list of desires included not just my body, but my pup and pups for the mated pairs as well. He was using me and not even trying to deny it. And when he had everything on his checklist, I would be passed on to the next one.

No! Over my dead body.

Not happening.

And now I knew how I could end this nightmare. All I had to do was convince the Alpha I was serious, make him understand that there was no way I would ever give in.

I pulled my hands back and said flatly, “No amount of time together will change how I feel about you. You are the last Wolf I would ever want to touch. The thought of it disgusts me. I will never want to be with you.”

His spine went rigid. Seething anger replaced his gentle calm. It took him a moment before he spoke, “I had hoped we could at least replace a way to work together toward this goal. I can see now that’s not happening. Still, I’ll give you some time to change your mind. But I won’t wait forever.”

There was a distinct warning his words. I just didn’t know what it was.

“What do you mean you ‘won’t wait forever’?”

“Unlike you, I take the responsibility that the Moon set at my feet very seriously. Which means that, yes, even though you are also the very last shewolf I could ever picture by my side, I will give whatever my wolves need from me. If that is my body, my heart or even my soul, so be it.”

His words scared me.

“I’m never going to change my mind. You’re working toward a useless cause,” I whispered.

“I’ll give you some time. But if you truly cannot change your mind, then I will take matters into my own hands and mark you.”

“You’re going to force me,” my voice wavered.

He shook his head. “No, I already told you I wouldn’t do that. But when I mark you, your heat will begin four weeks later. And you destiny was determined by the Moon. Not by me.”