MEETING THE ALPHA

They kept her alone in a darkened chamber, lit only by a single lantern on the bedside table. Stillness descended around her like a burden. The sound of voices and music from downstairs had faded as they stepped further upstairs and then cut off entirely after the door shut behind the Whoremonger and his Beta clients.

Leda cursed the courage that made her teeth and hands tremble. She wanted to be like Larisa who is happy and simple, contented with what the world presented her. But she couldn’t be like Larisa, or even like the two girls kissing and grinding against each other on the couch, because she was something wholly different. 

You’re the girl that likes to be broken. Because she knew exactly what that meant and it terrified her.

That first estrous was still burned in her memory. She had barely made it home before the heat cycle heightened and she became a shaky mass of sweat and slick, so desperate to mate that her family had to lock her up for three days before the nightmare finally ended.

She had continued taking the alterants, even as it became more and more impossible to find a reliable dealer and they were forced to turn to the black market more often when the registered pills had finished. It had not been necessary for her to undergo a heat cycle after that first, but the likelihood of another always hover around her like an awful shadow. 

Leda turned to take in what little of the room was visible in the low light. An uncorked bottle of wine sat in a bowl of ice next to two glasses. She filled one and drank at it, more out of a craving to calm her nerves than a taste for the alcohol. Her hand shook so that it was difficult to bring the glass cup to her lips without pouring some.

So lost in her own thoughts, Leda didn’t know the door had opened until it banged closed. The sound terrified her enough that she jumped, making the wine slosh out of the glass and poured at the back of her hand. It was too dark to see him vividly, only a large shape apparent against the closed door. She froze in place, waiting for him to come forth or in some way disclose his intentions.

The silence extended by excruciating degrees. She felt the heat of his stare on her, even though she couldn’t see it, which made his silent presence much more impossible to bear. Her legs shivered, the pressure of his silent regard was simply too much. She fell to the floor on her knees with the glass of wine in her hand hung from pliant fingers.

Leda did not comprehend what drove her to speak, but her voice came in a breathy hum.

“Please, sir.” She said.

“Good girl.” He replied.

His voice was startling even for an Alpha, soft and hard like steel plunged in chocolate, but wholly without emotion. She was shocked as he stepped forward, moving completely into the small circle of light.

Leda had spent her entire life avoiding the awareness of Alpha men. And here she was, trapped in a room with the biggest one that she had ever experienced. His face was like that of the old sculptures in the ancient park, all molded features and harsh lines, loosened up only by full lips and lashes as thick as butterfly wings. But there wasn't softness in the rest of him as he hovered large above her with bulging muscles and Alpha assault. She didn’t have words to characterize anything beyond the danger that he posed to her. He was putting on a dark fitted suit in the classic style, a sign of the leisure class, but that did little to strengthen the pure aggression in his form.

“Tell me that you are here to serve.” He said.

His words reverberated with something deep inside her. The idea of serving him whatever that he meant, tightened the muscles of her belly leaving her gasping.

The Alpha roared. She reduced her body closer to the floor in response, the action borne of some innate reaction.

“Do not compel me repeat myself, little Beta Or you will suffer the consequences.” The Alpha said with rage in his eyes. 

Her gut thudded in her chest as she spoke the words that he wanted. 

“I am here to serve", She replied.

The Alpha lowered towards her, with her whiff caught in her throat on a harsh

gasp. But he only got to her side and removed the half-full wine glass from her unresisting fingers.

“No more of this,” he murmured, with his voice heavy with command despite the soft tone.

Leda could only gaze up at him. His fingers caressed her face, turning it from side to side, practically clinical in his movements, as his thumb traced the arch of her bottom lip. Her mouth fell open, virtually a reflex, and his thumb spooned ever so slightly inside. The intensity of his concern was like wallowing under the glow lights that looked like the heat of sun in the hovels during the day.

“Quite lovely" 

It was too dark to see the shade of his eyes but they flashed with a hazardous light. His voice, by discrepancy, was very cold and emotionless.

“You will follow instructions without question or hesitation. Is that understood?” He ordered.

“Yes", she answered.

There was nothing else for her to say. Too many dollars were on the line for her to play at hesitation. All she could do was pray that the whole action would be over quickly. He simply stared down at her, look expressionless, so she tried again. 

“Yes, sir.”

He got up and moved past her to sit on the verge of a couch on the far side of the cabin. She stayed, frozen in place and was still on her knees, as he resolved himself comfortably against the cushions.

“Take off your clothes", He roared.

Leda struggled to her feet, offended by the coltishness of her own motions, feeling more vulnerable than she ever had before. The entire sleeves of the jacket she wore were already falling off of her shoulders. She let it slip off entirely and glide to the floor. Sputtering, she risked a glance up and notice the Alpha staring at her, his gaze hard and unwavering. She immediately lowered her own eyes, able to feel the fierce blush blooming on her cheeks. She cursed herself for feeling humiliated. This Alpha was the one with the bizarre desires. He should be the one to feel uneasy, if Alphas were even capable of such a thing.

To her, this whole thing was simply a transaction. The belts of her babydoll negligee were so thin that a hard pull would break  them in half. Her shoulders contorted into an anxious position to get the strap off completely while keeping the bodice from falling and disclosing her bare chest.

Leda repeated the movement with the other strap and the nightie slipped down her body to the floor. She strumbled then, with her arms crossed over her chest in some parody of humbleness, lace pooled around her feet.

“Do not stop!” He shouted.

Evacuating the pretense of virtue, as it would do her no good, she dropped her hands to the waist of her undies and quickly pushed them down her legs. She kicked the scrap of fabric away and stood before him, completely naked. He did not speak for numerous excruciating moments as she stood there, nude and exposed. 

She could hear his breathing — slow, constant and faultlessly controlled. As she watched silently, he removed his suit jacket and folded it neatly in half and laid it on the couch beside him.

“Come here", he said.

Leda stepped forward on unsteady legs, wondering what he would do if she fell at his feet in a dead unconsciousness. He didn’t look like the type to get off on a fainted body, but what did she know about it.

Reaching to a stop lose enough that their legs just almost touched, she wasn’t quite taller than him as he sat, even in the high shiny heels that fitted the lingerie. Although, it was close enough that their eyes were almost level, making her legs shake at the eagerness in his. Her ankle felt like it would crack in half at any moment. His gaze moved down the curve of her body and up again in a slow inspection. If she glared any harder, her body would spontaneously burn from the heat of it, so nothing would be left of her but a pile of ashes. A large hand rose to track the silhouette of her hip, close enough that the stir of air from his motion felt like a caress without quite making real contact.

“You will stop every sentence with the word ‘sir’ and You will call me nothing else.” he instruct.

He waited, obviously expecting a response.

“Yes, Sir,” she breathed.

“In this room, you will do precisely as you are told, specifically when you are told to do it.”, he added.

Her voice came on a weak, hitching gasp. What had she agreed to? 

“Yes, sir.” She answered.

His hand halted to rest on her stomach, caressing a small circle around her belly button with the tip of his finger. The shock of his touch was like a lightning bolt that blew her heart and blazed a path downward.

“What kind of girl are you?” He asked

She gulped past the hard chunk forming in her throat, barely conjuring enough air to speak. 

“I don’t know, sir", she replied

“There are only two kinds of girls - nice ones and horrible ones.” He palmed the skin just above the curve of her bare heap, sense electric.

 “And in my knowledge, one will often mask herself as the other.”

Leda couldn’t respond, words tangled in her throat. Too many things paraded on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to push him away and request a skycar back to the lower levels, dollars be damned. And she also wanted to ask what magic he used on her that caused the thin shimmers of heat, swiveling in the pit of her belly. She imagined this sensation was related to standing on the edge of a high drop, stomach rising as she imagined the fall. But mostly, she was just reluctant with fear that he would uncover her true personality and her life as she knew it would end. None of this was what she had foreseen.

“What type of girl is it that would peddle her body to a stranger?”

Her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she wondered if he could see it.

“A horrible one…sir?”

“And horrible girls need training above all else, wouldn’t you say?”

A blazing pool of need plunged in the core of her body, lapping strongly at her senses. She wanted to shout at him, rail until he did something — anything — to break this horrible pressure and put the pain to an end.

“I don’t know.” she said with rage in her face.

She recognized as the look in his eyes edged that she had failed to add sir.

He talked again before she could amend the mistake.

“You’ll pay for that as well, I guess.”