Oh my goodness, Alpha Knox is incredibly sexy. Why was I thinking this? I’d heard so many horrible things about him. Would a horrible man help a stranger during her first shift? I didn’t think he was all bad.“Thief,” a voice in my mind said.“What?”“You stole your wolf,” my wolf said.I stopped dead in my tracks wondering if someone heard what she said. Of course, they didn’t. I shared a unique bond with my wolf. Only I could hear her.“Please be quiet,” I said, shoving her presence away.I didn’t steal my wolf I wished for it. I didn’t know what the Obsidian Stone did to give me the wolf but it worked! I chewed my bottom lip. Should I be concerned that the stone might have stolen someone’s wolf?Crap, I can’t worry about that right now.I walked out the front gate and noticed Aaron outside talking to the guards. He blinked at me before he went on talking to the guards.Aaron was a groundskeeper here. He was a sly one. Not to be trusted.I hurried to the Pack Central where the annou
Esme POV“I noticed you at breakfast, Esme. In your petite uniform. Did you dress that way for me? I noticed your pushed-up breasts and your legs in that skirt. You’re doing too much Esme.”I shoved him off using my wolf strength. Leo chuckled but he was back on me in a second but this time his grip wasn’t secure.“I wouldn’t waste my time. You’re the one doing too much by searching for me.”He gripped my jaw and slammed my head against the wall. “I won’t kill you for old-time sake, Esme.”“We were never friends,” I grumbled.His wolf flashed in his eyes and I felt the intensity of him. I winced and looked away. It was too much. My wolf wasn’t strong enough to block his presence.“We were lovers. Have you forgotten that night? I made you feel good and you left me hanging.”Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I didn’t… I…”He smirked deviously. “So innocent. You didn’t even know what was going on.”This wasn’t Leo talking it was his horniness. He didn’t have control over his wolf. Leo rejected
Alpha Knox POV“Damn it.” I bolted up in bed, drenched in my own sweat. “This can’t be happening to me.”I hadn’t had a wet dream since I was a teenager. This wasn’t an ordinary wet dream. This was because of a petite young woman sleeping soundly in this mansion. Somewhere in the basement where all the servants slept. I didn’t care that she was a slave. She was brave and gorgeous and she made my wolf wild. I could find her room in a second because her scent was incredibly strong right now.No, I can’t. For some reason, she can’t sense the mate bond. It could be because her wolf was new and she was still taming it.“This sucks,” I grumbled.I walked into the shower and put the cold water on blast.Esme, I thought. I pondered her name for days before I learned it. I wondered what name could be so fitting for my little wolf. Her name rolled off my tongue it was perfect! I wanted to roll my tongue down her chest and swirl it around her nipples.Damn, this mate bond.I didn’t want to scare
Esme POV“What did you just do?” Kira gawked at me.“I signed up for the mating run, no big deal.”“Esme, what happens when you actually get in?”I shrugged. “Then I’m going to compete. Kira I want to be part of something important. What’s bigger than the Mating Run and to be blessed by the moon goddess when it’s all over?”“Or you could die!”She’s such a ray of sunshine.“I’m going to train every day. No one’s dying. Can we get to the butchery already?”“Ugh, okay. Uncle Ben’s been in a crabby mood lately.”“How come?” I asked as we walked away from the signup tables.A total of eight she wolves would be chosen from the Pack. The other Packs brought runners too but since Highbridge was the host Pack we carried the load. The runners weren’t even the biggest part. The Alpha’s roles were the most important. They made sacrifices and commitments to the future. The she-wolves were just to please the moon goddess but it was still important nothing went wrong or else we would be stuck with
Esme POVAfter Knox left the kitchen I waited five minutes until I followed him out. Was the moon goddess an impractical joker or the most wonderful goddess ever? She allowed me to be mated to two Alphas? After Leo rejected me I didn’t dream of a second chance mate nor that it would be the most infamous Alpha out here.My limbs vibrated as I walked through the cold evening breeze. I might have been high on adrenaline because I thought I heard voices in the wind as I passed through the hedges.“Yes, Alpha, just like that,” a feminine voice moaned.The moans followed the sound of vigorous skin smacking.I froze. Oh geez.“Uh!” the woman screamed.“Is this what you wanted, Giselle?” Leo barked.“Yes, harder! It feels so good. More, Leo,” Giselle cried out in delight.I couldn’t see them but I could smell the lust in the air.I touched my chest and bit back the tears. Leo would never have loved me. Hearing my former mate have sex with someone else both disgusted and devastated me. I was n
Esme POV“You are trying to get me killed,” I protested as quietly as possible.“Anyone who sees will just pretend they didn’t.”He marched us upstairs. What if Leo returned from his nightly fuck session and saw us? He already suspected I was trying to get into Knox’s pants.Knox pushed his bedroom door open and kicked it shut. He tossed me on the bed like a sack.“You brut!”He rolled up his sleeves and unbuckled his belt. I backed into the bed and struggled to swallow the lump in my throat.“Relax, babe. We’re not doing that tonight.”“Oh,” I relaxed a little. “Why not?”He chuckled. “You want to have sex tonight? Because your wish is my command, Esme.”I shook my head. “I just want to know why you don’t want it.”“I don’t want to rush you into anything, besides I don’t have protection.”“Oh… I can’t be here. Chanel could find out. There are eyes everywhere.”“Oh, she was here. I can smell her all over the room. I forgot I may have invited her to my room.”I clenched my jaw. He was
Esme POV“I’m only a few minutes late no one will notice,” I said.Rhoda smirked and marched towards me.“Rhoda, the Luna said—”“Get out!”Griselda stopped dead in her tracks. Rhoda was seconds away from barking at her again. Griselda closed her mouth and left.“What’s going on with you?” I hissed.“No one will notice your tardiness but they will notice you having a wolf when you shouldn’t!”A lump formed in my throat. “Rhoda—”“Don’t bother lying to me, Esme. You told me everything remember? You told me how you got a man instead of a wolf. You used the Obsidian Stone and didn’t tell me. You little tramp.”“I didn’t even know it worked and you’ve been so mad at me you didn’t let me explain!”“Don’t take that tone with me. You fucked up. We had a deal and it’s not fair you get what you wanted and I don’t.”“I don’t get what you want. Why do you need the stone?”“That’s none of your business. Get me that stone.”“I can’t. This is Alpha Knox we’re talking about. I don’t want to cross hi
Esme POV“Close the door, Esme.” His voice sent a shiver down my spine. Not the good kind.“Now,” he demanded.My fingertips nudged the door closed. Once the door clicked shut I was alone in a cave with a hungry wolf. I saw the mixture of hunger and rage in his eyes. Could it be possible a part of our bond was still intact? It can’t be. I have a new mate.My wolf rebuffed Leo as well. She put up her walls so high that even I couldn’t reach her. I’d never heard of this behaviour. I knew wolves could reject a male’s advances when they showed interest but Leo’s wolf hadn’t done that yet.“What do you want?” I questioned.He slouched in his favourite leather seat, his eyes roaming my body. He sucked in his bottom lip and I recoiled.“I’m still your Alpha, I don’t owe you any explanations.”What kind of Alpha has to constantly remind someone of his title?“Is there something I can do, Alpha?” I kept eye contact.Leo raised to his feet.I jumped back into the door at the same time a wave of
Esme POVI heard a few snickers as I strolled by where the other girls stretched for the run in a few hours. I came last in the previous race. Knox and I didn’t have time to train but I intended to do better this time despite the dirty stares from the girls.I found a little spot to stretch my limbs. Not long ago the mating run was my priority but then I met Knox. He’s different to the stories I’ve heard. No one other than my Mother put me first before Knox. Knox had a meeting with Luna Stella to discuss my freedom but I don’t know if she’d be in a negotiating mood after what her husband did yesterday.The Alpha King snubbed the official Queen at the ceremony and called up the Luna Consort to make the pledge and sacrifice. It shocked a lot of people in the Pack. Luna Monica looked pleased with herself when her husband called her up. It disgusted me.“Any reason you’re isolating?”A girl with thick black hair in a high ponytail, dressed in comfortable workout clothes that fit her perf
Esme POV“What are you reading?” Knox asked.He finally stopped sniffing around in the water and shifted back to his human form.I closed the romance novel and settled in the grass. “A book called Sold for Gold and Bells. It’s pretty good.”“So aside from sowing you like to read?” Knox asked.He hadn’t turned around to look at me but I assumed he was still coming down from his rage earlier.“I sow because I have to. I love reading especially out here. It’s calming isn’t it?”“Yeah, being with you is calming.” He turned around swiftly.He grabbed his pants off the ground and struggled into them.“Are you okay?” I asked softly.“Don’t worry about me. You’re the one subjected to silver.”My ankles and wrists were still red. “Maybe if we stop talking and just make out it’ll make things better.”He smirked. “Who am I to argue with you?”I smiled and he leaned in but his phone rang interrupting us before our lips met. He pressed his forehead on mine and brushed his nose along mine before he
Narrated POVHigh Beta Bruce ushered Prince Leo into his Mother’s private area. If he weren’t the crowned Prince of the Highbridge Pack then Bruce would have slapped him as he would his own son.The brat nearly got them killed.“Lock the door,” Luna Monica ordered.Bruce did as told. They were lucky none of the other servants saw them. They had the eyes of the royal guards to worry about but none of them would want to admit to losing a battle against one wolf.In their defence the wolf was incredulous and in a state so far gone from his human side it made sense only his mate could reach him.Monica wrapped her arms around her son, her precious treasure before pulling back to examine his cuts and the bruise under his eye.“My precious boy!” she cried.“Get off me,” Leo shrugged her off with immense power, she fell on her precious white couches.“Leo, please, don’t be so cold.”He glared at her. “This is all your fault!”“That little stunt almost got us killed,” Bruce commented with suc
Esme POV“It’s a beautiful dress, you didn’t have to get it for me,” I said.Knox chuckled. “I’m not taking you back to the palace in a towel, babe.”I twirled in the purple dress. Knox bought the dress from the store downstairs in the lobby. He had good taste. It had a low waistline and a long skirt. The bodice captivated my breasts perfectly, elevating them and carving them out to appear plump and sexy.“Now I want to take it off you,” Knox grinned wolfishly.“Knox, I still have a job to do,” I giggled as he kissed my neck.“Not for long.”I rolled my eyes but he tugged me forward. His hand travelled under my dress and caressed my legs. I stiffened a little but then relaxed under his touch.“We don’t have to go back,” Knox’s voice rasped.“We’ll be together soon.”He stopped his hand from travelling to my inner thigh. A part of me regretted it. He pulled me close and I breathed him in.“You’re not still mad at me, are you?”“If I was I wouldn’t have slept with you,” I replied.“It
Knox POV“Are you going to join me or what?” She tilted her head to the right as her delicate finger toyed her erect nipple.If it weren’t for my jeans my dick would be standing. Why was I wearing them anyway?My mate lay on the king-size bed like a present waiting to be opened but I couldn’t move. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t get her out of my head but now I had cold feet.I meant what I said. I don’t want to hurt her. The other day I received a call from my sister Nyla telling me Bethany had another outburst and demanded me to come home. I didn’t want to turn Esme into that! Especially since Esme was my fated mate.She sat up, her confidence seemed to melt away replaced by uneasiness.“Do you want me to get dressed?”I snapped out of my insane thoughts. Nothing will happen to Esme. Not if I can help it.“Of course not.”I strolled to the bed and climbed between her thighs. The scent of her arousal drove my wolf wild. I wouldn’t last long before I devoured her. I stroked her in
Esme POV“You’re so wet for me,” Knox said, kissing my neck.I squeezed my legs around his hand as heat rushed to my cheeks. He chuckled.“Don’t be shy. This is normal. You’re so precious and beautiful.”“I’m just not used to it.”“I know and I’ll make sure you do. Right now,” he said, covering my lips with his, his tongue demanded and dominated me.I couldn’t express the distress my heart was under. He held me so passionately and possessively. I’ve read books where men simply stated a woman was his but Knox didn’t have to utter a word. His hands were imprinted on my skin. My body responded to him in a way it never did for anyone else.I could stop him if I wanted to but I didn’t want to.“Do you want to take me here?” I panted.“Yes… fuck… yes, I do. I’ve waited long enough. I’m tired of jacking off in the shower.”He did that?I imagined Knox all wet with his member in his hand, stroking himself just for relief.“You do that?” I whispered.He chuckled and kissed my jawline.“I overs
Esme POV“Will you destroy the Pack for a slave?” Bruce barked.In the absence of the King, Beta Bruce seemed to take more authority than he was given. Alpha Leo sat on his throne, mindlessly watching everything happen. He knew the truth but his feeble mind couldn’t come up with a thing to say.Knox strolled behind me planted his hands on my shoulders and brushed his thumbs along my skin.“She’s more than a slave.” He brushed my dress down, revealing bare skin and the mark he branded me with.Another round of gasps.“She’s my fated mate. She’s the only good thing to come out of this Pack.”“H-How?” Monica mumbled.I pulled my sleeve up and swatted his hand away.“Yes, I’m his mate but that’s not the only reason I’m here. Queen Luna, my Mother was your slave. Will you really let what happened to her go unpunished? What about my justice?”The Queen lifted her chin as the rest of them stared at me in amusement and disgust.“What is the meaning of this?” a frail and raspy voice.I turned
Esme POV“Wake up, Esme, it’s time to go to the King’s palace.”I know but I dreaded waking up to this day. My dreams were void but they carried bliss because my emotions were dormant the second my eyes opened everything came back to me.I spent the night at Kira’s house. I got my first dose of her Mom’s new boyfriend but I couldn’t focus on him.“Want me to go with you? I’m sure they’ll be lenient with me considering the circumstances,” Kira said.“Yeah, I guess you’re right. You know how to escape they decide to kick you out.”She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed.“Let’s get out of here,” I said, climbing out of bed.After getting changed quickly Kira and I walked to the castle silently. The second we arrived we were sucked into the chaos. There were people everywhere and locals camped outside the gates peeking into the property.“What’s going on here?” Kira asked.I shrugged. Then I saw the banners and the bonfires being built. The mating run, of course!“I didn’t know we we
Esme POVI stood and watched her limbs but they remained frozen in time. There wasn’t any blood but the air was thick and musty. How long had she been down here?I snapped back into reality and screamed.“Help!”I flew forward and landed in front of her. I smoothed her hair out of her face and sobbed.“Wake up, please wake up,” I begged.Her face was pale and cold. I jumped back. This can’t be true. My Mother was fine!“Someone help me!” I cried.She wore her nightgown from last night. She’s been here all night. Gosh, no.My bedroom door flew open.“What the hell is wrong, Esme?” Rhoda barked.Jasmine and Griselda lingered behind her. Rhoda’s eyes widened and colour drained from her face.“Jasmine, call a royal guard immediately.”Jasmine looked like she wouldn’t be able to make it up the stairs but she turned around and ran off anyway. Rhoda grabbed my shoulders and dragged me away from my Mother despite my protests. I still expected her to open her eyes and smile at me.“She has to