Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 50

“Oh yeah, we got it,” Ever replied. His lips were curled into a smug expression as he also watched Hycinth’s responses. His confidence was high. Clearly looking forward to the game.

Hycinth noticed his stare as well, but rather than reflect irritation as she had earlier, her lips curled back, flashing him a brilliant smile with fang.

And f*****g winked at him!

F**k, she was bold. Her confidence not only met but exceeded his. I was dying to know if she could back it up. Either way, her ballsy response threw him off. His expression froze. He blinked. But then he recovered, licking his lips, looking even more eager.

Brian continued explaining the rules, “If a ball hits the ground, it is retired, and a fresh ball is put into play.” He pointed toward a small bucket of gleaming white ping-pong balls on a countertop behind him.

“For the shot to count, keep your elbows behind the edge of the table.”

Hycinth listened attentively.

“No fingering or blowing.”

At this, she squeezed Gwen’s hand and raised an eyebrow. Brian caught her questioning expression and opened his mouth to answer, but Ever interjected, teasing pointedly, “Males finger and females blow.”

Hycinth rolled her eyes, as did Gwen. Had Hycinth not handled it so well, I would have been inclined to slap him upside his head for that comment. As it was, I was still contemplating it, but he must have guessed what the remark might cost him because he’d taken a noticeable step out of my reach.

Brian explained, “When the ball lands in a cup and spins above the liquid, some gameplay allow for males to use a finger to knock it out, or females to blow it out before it settles. However, to keep the game moving at a favorable pace, we disallow both.”

“Got it,” Hycinth affirmed.

Shit. I wasn’t sure if I liked Hycinth making whatever this decision was, based on her irritation over the nuisance shewolves. But she seemed to be set in her choice. Her lips curled into a wicked grin as she faced our direction and reaffirmed even more strongly, “Yes, bitches. We can do this!”

I wasn’t sure if she was referring to us as the bitches or Gwen and Willow. Either way, Gwen, and Willow cackled with giggles and finally agreed. Gwen straightened her spine and got down to business, reading the card, “Undress, down to your underwear, courtesy of your partner, during the remainder of the game.”

My mouth fell open. Hycinth couldn’t be serious!

Asher and Ever were equally stunned, but they recovered sooner than I did, eagerly walking over to their mate. However, before I could even take a step in her direction, Hycinth turned toward Brian and asked casually, “Does it matter if I’m not wearing any panties?”

All eyes snapped back to her, and now Brian was equally stunned. “Um, I’ve never had that question before…, but no, it doesn’t matter…if you feel comfortable.”

Oh motherfucker. The hell it did matter!

It was bad enough to consider her standing in a swarm of unmated males in her underwear. There was no way on this green earth I was going to allow her to flash her pretty little p***y for all to see…during the rest of the game, nonetheless! I closed the distance between us with long strides, and locked an arm around her waist, sliding my hand to the back of her neck, forcing her to look up at me. “What the f**k are you doing?”

She batted her eyelashes. “Just playing the game. You were the one who insisted I not wear panties this evening.”

Asher and Ever burst into laughter while another round of the giggles came from Gwen and Willow. They all stared, waiting with baited breath to see what would happen.

I ground my teeth together. “Be that as it may, I am not allowing you to do this.”

Hycinth’s eyes opened wide. She repeated me incredulously, “You are not allowing me?”

Shit. Shit. Shit!

I should have known not to phrase it that way. I tried another tactic. I would happily resort to begging if it got me what I wanted. My tone softened persuasively, “Please…tell me…are you really not wearing any underwear?” She’d f****d with Ever about the shot. It was still possible she was just f*****g with me about the panties. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but I could live with having her in her underwear. Technically, it wasn’t any different than a bikini.

Unwilling to give an inch, she purred, “As I said before, that answer is my business…unless you would like to continue the game and remove this dress from me.”

“Shit,” Ever breathed.

Asher snickered, “She’s got bigger balls then you do, Leander. So, what’s it gonna be?”

F*****g hell!

I spun Hycinth around so that her back was to me. She squealed at my unexpected maneuver. I smoothed her hair to the side and grasped the zipper on her dress. I held there for a moment, and leaned down to her ear, growling low, “You had better be wearing panties.”

The only response she gave me was another giggle.

“F**k. I’m going to have to kill half the wolves in here tonight,” I hissed under my breath as I slowly pulled the zipper down. A black lacy bra came into view. I continued downward until the zipper could go no farther, the bottom of the opening resting right above her a*s. I couldn’t pull the dress away until I knew the answer for sure, and reached my hand into the opening…

“Highest rank begins.” He turned to me. “Go ahead, Alpha.”

I kept eye contact with Hycinth as I took the pong ball and stepped back a little, to avoid my elbow crossing past the barrier of the table. Glancing down at the target cups, I tossed the little ball directly into a cup. Ever and Asher erupted in a small cheer.

Hycinth fished the ball out and lifted the cup. She pulled the little card from beneath it, and read, “Take a shot…opponent choice.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Willow said. Gwen nodded. Hycinth looked at Brian, “We’re in.”

Brian turned to us, “Okay guys, what’s your shot of choice?”

“Easy. Patrón,” Ever grinned, looking at me for agreement. I wasn’t surprised at his suggestion. Patrón had a higher ABV. If Hycinth wasn’t much of a drinker, it would certainly affect her much faster than the rest of us. But she hadn’t even blinked at his suggestion. I glanced at Asher who gave me a nod. I turned to our host. “Patrón, it is.”

“Ah yes, a crowd favorite,” Brian grinned as he walked around the bar. He returned with a small tray containing three shots, three limes and a little pile of salt. I was highly curious to see how Hycinth would respond.

She looked down at the tray, and her brows pulled together, studying the contents.

F**k. Her confused response could only mean she hadn’t done a tequila shot before.

Ever’s smile couldn’t have gotten any wider. He looked like the Cheshire cat as he watched.

Hycinth murmured to Willow and Gwen, “What do I do?”

“It easy,” Willow said. “Just follow my lead.” She licked her hand, dropped a pinch of salt on the area and then placed a lime between her thumb and forefinger. Hycinth watched as Willow licked the salt from her hand, threw the shot back and then popped the lime in her mouth, letting out a little hiss in the process. The alcohol was strong. Hycinth waited and watched as Gwen went next. Lick. Sip. Suck. Gwen also let out a little hiss and giggled.

It was Hycinth’s turn. Hmm…for someone who hadn’t done it before, her movements were surprisingly smooth. There was no hesitation as she licked the back of her hand, dropped a pinch of salt in place and plucked up the lime, nestling it between her thumb and forefinger. Then she purposefully met and held Ever’s gaze as she licked the salt, threw back the shot and bit down on the lime. There was no hiss. And absolutely no facial expression that indicated the alcohol bothered her in the least. As a matter of fact, when she pulled the lime away, she tilted the shot glass back again to catch the last couple of drops, and then licked her lips, not bothering with the lime.

“Oh f**k,” Asher breathed. “She’s a ringer.”

Ever looked a little dumbfounded. The girls rolled in giggles, very pleased with themselves. Hycinth’s bright eyes met mine. I gave her a slow nod and a smirk. This game was going to get very interesting indeed.

It was their turn. Hycinth plucked up the ball and gave it a quick toss. Of course, it landed in a cup. At this point, I was just about sure she was more than familiar with this game. I lifted the cup and read the dare, “Shave your heads.”

“Shit, no!” Ever hissed in disappointment. On this, I had to agree with him. I liked my hair.

“I agree. It’s a no for me too,” Asher added firmly.

I fished out the ball and picked up the cup. Ever and Asher also selected cups that did not have dares beneath them.

“Drink up, boys,” Brian ordered.

I gave another nod to Hycinth who practically glowed at this point and drank down the cup of beer.

Brian declared the current score, “Males down three. Females, zero. Next round.”

Asher picked up the ping-pong ball. But my focus was abruptly drawn to the radical shift in Hycinth’s expression. A second ago, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. But now, something had caught her attention to my left. Whatever it was, she didn’t like it. Not one bit. Her eyes flashed furiously.

Oh f**k. That could only mean one thing. I glanced at my side. Yep. Sydney’s little group of shewolves where once again eyeing me up and down like a rare steak. They giggled and batted their lashes. Their attention was so focused on me they hadn’t even noticed Hycinth’s hard glare.

Instantly, my Wolf was in my eyes. He growled, flashing fang to the group of shewolves.

All five of the females looked down. I turned back to the table. But a moment later, their giggles started up again. I gave another hard look in their direction, but they’d learned and weren’t looking at me. Now their attention was on Hycinth.

While Hycinth was a strong Wolf, she wasn’t their Luna, which meant she couldn’t shut them down with just a look. It would have to be a fight challenge, and they weren’t worth the effort, particularly tonight. But my hands were tied. If I stepped in, it made Hycinth look weak. I ground my teeth together.

Gwen pulled on Hycinth’s arm. She lowered her head so that Gwen could reach her ear. I couldn’t hear what she said to Hycinth, but whatever it was, I was thankful because Hycinth’s expression relaxed just a little bit. Gwen pulled away, and they made eye contact, seeming to agree with whatever words of wisdom Gwen had imparted.

In the middle of their interaction, I found that Asher had successfully sunk his ball into a cup without a dare, making Willow drink. She returned the favor right after him, shooting the ball into the only cup on our side without a dare. Asher happily drank it down, giving her a smirk.

“Males four. Females one,” Brian recapped as Ever took his turn, the ball landing quickly in a cup.

Gwen pulled out the dare, and her eyes widened.

“What does it say?” Hycinth asked, leaning in to see it. When she read it, her eyebrows shot up.

Their expressions cause Willow to snatch the card. “Lemme see!” Her eyes briefly took in the written words and then snapped up, meeting Gwen’s and Hycinth’s. She breathed, “Oh, shit.”

Now I was damn curious. What the hell could be on the card that caused that reaction?

Ever interjected dryly, “This is the part where you share the dare with the class.” His tone was even, but curiosity burned in his eyes as well.

Gwen and Willow spoke at the same time, “No.” Hycinth’s glance landed to my left for just half a second before she shook her head, and then said firmly, “Oh, yes.”

“Really?” Gwen blinked in surprise.