Defying The Alpha, Falling For His Stepfather

Chapter Seven: No More Than A Toy

Ellis

There was something disconcerting about the way that old dog was staring at Cecelia.

I couldn’t fathom what exactly was going on in that head of his. Had he been in a better condition, I might have felt the need to keep a closer watch on him. As it was, he was already knocking on death’s door. Aiden was no threat. Still, I didn’t like it. I really thought he would be dead already; I don’t know how he kept hanging on. I think he did it just to annoy me. He was like a ghost haunting the pack house, always there in the background, and it creeped me right out. But that was about as far as it went. After all, when he did actually come out of the shadows, he did no more than give me bland, disappointed looks when he didn’t approve of my ideas.

Not that I needed his approval.

I slammed my cup down to get their attention, anticipating the guilty look my betrothed would give and how everyone in the room would see her shame. Yet there was barely a physical reaction from her at all, aside from a little shock which turned quickly to an annoyed expression. When she turned to stare at me I got the feeling I was being mildly reprimanded.

Like a child.

I felt a ripple of power coming from her aura, matriarchal and intimidating. Not that I felt intimidated, but right from our first interaction I could already tell that Cecelia was going to be a problem, and this only confirmed my appraisal.

She was already looking down her nose at me, defying me. Didn’t she realize that I held all the power in this game? She was nothing but a pawn. Once I had secured Two Pillars under my name, I would have no need of this chosen-mate charade, and could easily cast her aside.

She would only be a thorn in my side for a short time, I thought, smiling to myself. Before then, though, I would need to remind Cecelia, and everyone else, why it was that I had brought her here. I needed to make her mine. I hadn’t been in any particular hurry to take the necessary steps to do so, but now I got the distinct sense that I had to move quickly with my plans to complete the mating ritual. Before something...or someone...made a mess of my plans.

I looked back at the door, but Aiden had disappeared, probably slinking back to his hole. At least he got the message.

Now to work on my stubborn mate.

I took my time finishing my meal, savoring every mouthful, letting the sauce from the bolognese dribble a little from my mouth, and dabbing at it with satisfaction. Then, between each forkful of food, I would enjoy deep gulps of my Merlot, deliberately drawing it out so that all she could do was sit, looking down at the table, fidgeting with the silverware.

Who was the child now?

All the while, I made a point of looking right at her. It struck me as strange now to think I had found her in any way attractive when I first saw her stepping out of the car that delivered her to me. As I studied her now, I didn’t see anything beautiful about her. She was tall and boring. It was really no wonder she had ended up an old maid. I hated the proud way she carried herself, the way she acted like a god-damned princess, too good for anybody. I was enjoying bringing her down off her throne and putting her in her proper place.

When I had finished the last of my second glass of wine, I finally pushed back my chair. I put on a pleasant and agreeable face, the facade I used when I needed to charm people into compliance. “Come,” I held out my hand, “I’ll escort you back to your room.”

She gave me a suspicious glance but couldn’t resist me entirely. She ignored my hand as she pushed back her chair, scraping it loudly across the wood floors, and stood ungracefully on her own. “There’s no need,” she said curtly, and I could tell how much it irked her to be in my grasp, “I can find my own way.”

“Oh no,” I smiled again, “I insist.”

She shrugged, pretending not to care, and we left the dining room together. I felt the gazes of the others following us from the dining room, probably speculating on how we were going to spend our first night together. I knew that Becky was there at the back table, and it pleased me to think she believed I was going to bed another woman.

We went up the stairs and along the hall to my mother’s old room. She opened the door, and I followed her inside, noting the way she had placed her things. Immediately I regretted my decision to put her in there. It irritated me to see her personal items placed throughout the room, to see her hairbrush on my mother’s dresser. I didn’t want her to get settled and comfortable, and the way she took over the room! What would she want to take control of next?

“Well?” she said impatiently, as though she was waiting for me to leave. As she turned around to face me, I moved swiftly, catching her unaware, grabbing both of her shoulders in a vice grip while I sank my teeth into the spot between her neck and her shoulder. Her skin looked so delicate, but in reality, I had to struggle to sink my canines through, like I was gnawing on a piece of leather. For a moment she was frozen in place and stunned into silence, as though she couldn’t believe what I had just done. I could taste the shock, rank, and metallic. “What are you–” she pushed back against me with surprising force, making me stagger back several steps, until my back hit the dresser, scattering her stuff on the floor beside me. I kicked them out of the way and spit her blood out of my mouth, wiping my lips.

The taste of her was disgusting, and I wanted to vomit. I couldn’t wait to get back to my own bathroom to brush my teeth and gargle some mouthwash.

She held a hand over her bleeding wound. “What the hell was that, Ellis?” she asked, like a hurt puppy. The look on her face alone was worth it.

I shrugged, “The marking. I figured we might as well get it over with and make everything official.”

Her mouth sagged open, and her face had gone white as a sheet, but her eyes were blazing with indignation. “You did not have my permission,” she hissed through gritted teeth, her free hand flexing dangerously at her side.

“Didn’t I?” I casually strode to the door, “I’m pretty sure it was part of the agreement.”

I went out and shut the door firmly behind me. Smiling, as I clasped my hands behind my back, I walked down the long hallway, all the way to the opposite end, to my own room. Cecelia was marked and bound to me for the rest of her life, however short that may be. My plans were moving forward perfectly, and now there was nothing Aiden could do about it, even if he wanted to.

I pushed open the door to the new and improved Alpha suite. The new French door had been installed, although there was still some finishing work to be done around the frame. The balcony was under construction now, so I had to put up with the scaffolding that climbed the wall outside. I stood at the glass doors with my hands on my hips, imagining how it would all look in the end. I could see myself standing above the pack as they trained, but since darkness had already fallen on the grounds outside, all I could see was my own reflection in the glass. When I noticed that I still had a smear of blood under my lip, I quickly licked my finger and used it to scrub off the offending stuff that had already dried on my face.

I checked myself again and saw with revulsion that I had only succeeded in smearing her filth down my chin. Rubbing at it with the cuff of my fatigues, I turned on my heel and marched into the bathroom, stripping off my shirt as I went. I needed to scrub my face and wash that taste out of my mouth. The shirt would have to be burned.

People talked about mate marking being this ecstatic, sensual experience, but that was obviously a lot of romanticized nonsense. It was really quite repulsive. Necessary, yes, but no less foul for being so. As I brushed my teeth and my tongue and then brushed them again, rinsing my mouth out several times, I consoled myself with the fact that by sinking my teeth into her and allowing my saliva to enter her bloodstream, I had inoculated her with my own venom.

From now on, everyone would know, just by her scent, that she was mine, and that I was, in every way, Alpha.

And yet...

I leaned in close to the mirror and pulled up my top lip to inspect my teeth. My canines looked just as they had before I took over the pack, short, dull, and ordinary. There was no sign of the long, sharp fangs of an Alpha. Cecelia’s skin was tough, to be sure, bearing all the resistance of a high-ranking female, but I showed her I was the dominant wolf.

And her, she’s nothing. No more than a toy. To play with and then throw away.

I should have felt great about how smoothly I’d pulled off the marking, but couldn’t muster the feeling. Perhaps tomorrow, when Cecelia had to show her face and reveal my mark to the pack, I could fully revel in my conquest.

There was one last thing required to consummate our union, but the idea of going back to her bedroom turned my stomach.

Still, there was no need for me to go to bed unsatisfied.

I reached into my back pocket for my cell phone and hesitated, but only for a moment before I sent a text to Becky.