The Golden Eyed Alpha

Chapter 8. Allegra

Allegra

I was surrounded and they were closing in on me. The huge, lumbering shapes of the rogues were staring at me with glassy, lifeless eyes. It was as though they’d lost the part of themselves that had once been human. I tried again and again to shift into my wolf form, but nothing happened. I could feel the wolfsbane burning in my veins, keeping me in my weaker human form with nothing to protect me from their razor sharp claws and vicious teeth. My heart began to race, but I resolutely shut down the panic threatening to rise in me. I was born a fighter and if I was going down, I’d take as many of the blood thirsty brutes with me.

My eyes darted around, searching for a path of escape or a sign of weakness in my attackers, but there were too many of them. The hair on my arms rose as I felt the hot, putrid breath on the back of my neck. I wanted so badly to close my eyes, to not see my death staring back at me as the wolves toyed with me as though I were nothing but prey to them.

Steeling my nerves and tensing my muscles for a fight, I whipped around to face the wolf. He was close, too close. My eyes went wide and I forgot how to breathe as I looked into brown eyes that I knew so well as the dark brown beast loomed over me. Marcus? I whimpered, causing him to snicker cruelly at my fear and confusion. I shook my head in adamant denial, refusing to believe my eyes. Marcus would never betray me like this! There had to be some mistake!

His eyes that had always looked on me with affection and quite often with lust only held hatred now. His lips curled back away from his fangs, pausing long enough to let my terror fully engulf me, before sinking his deadly bite into my neck.

I bolted upright in bed, a strangled scream clawing its way out of my throat that was still constricted with fear. I was momentarily disoriented as I stared around the unfamiliar room, still half expecting a rogue to leap out of the lengthening shadows and rip my throat out.

Conall wrapped his arm around me, pulling me to his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair, crooning to me softly as my heart hammered in my chest and I panted, trying to catch my breath, small whimpering sounds all but lost in my ragged breathing. “Shh, baby, it’s ok,” he murmured, his melodic voice soothing me despite the lingering feeling of the dream. “It was just a dream, you’re safe. I’ve got you.”

As the fear dissipated, it was replaced with an even worse feeling. I was mortified. The nightmare was nothing new, I’d been having it, or similar, ever since my father had died. This one had been much worse than usual, however. I’d never recognized the big wolf before, or thought I recognized it. Not that it made any sort of difference to me. A dream was just that- a dream. Already, the memory of the details were fading away and becoming fuzzy. Still, it was the reason that I never allowed any man or woman I’d welcomed to my bed to stay long enough for me to fall asleep. And now Call was holding me like I was a child. Not that I could deny it felt good. Really good. Too good. I could easily get used to this, and then where would I be? Until I was certain my pack would be safe, I had to remain strong and in control. I tried to wriggle away from him, but his arms locked me in a vice-like grip while he continued to sooth me.

“I’m ok, really,” I told him, my words muffled against his large chest.

“Just a little longer, baby,” he murmured back. Now that my own fear had ebbed, I could vaguely feel his through our fledgling bond. “You scared the cr*p out of me, and you’re still shaking. I know how bad nightmares can get. Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head emphatically and finally managed to push away from him. Rubbing my face with my hands, hating the fact that he was right, they were shaking, and taking deep gulps of air as I tried to settle myself. A stupid dream should not have this much power over me. Suddenly filled with too much nervous energy, I scrambled out of the bed to pace in front of the windows, trying to shake off the lasting effects of the dream and the desire to let Conall take care of me.

Conall propped himself up on his elbow to watch me as I fidgeted. The look on his face was serene as he followed my movements back and forth in front of the windows, making me even more nervous. I could feel his growing lust, and turned in time to see him shift onto his side. He hissed in sudden pain, and I didn’t need the mate bond to see the muscle in his calf cramping painfully. I was across the room in a flash, digging my fingers into the offending muscle to make it release.

“Ow, f*ck!” Conall snarled. “That hurts like a b*tch!” Before he could tell me to stop, I felt the muscle begin to melt, softening under my relentless grip, and he relaxed as the pain receded.

“Better?” I asked, the tenderness in my voice surprising even me, and he opened one eye, meeting my gaze as I gently massaged his calf.

“Yeah, thanks,” he croaked out.

His muscles were a mess of knots and I wanted to keep massaging him until every inch of him was pliable. Well, maybe not every inch, I thought deviously as I glanced at his crotch. The memory of our romp in the blankets before sent heat searing though my belly, making me squirm and I forced myself to let go of his leg. I sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to touch him. I still had questions and although I’d love nothing better than to explore his tempting body with my hands and mouth, I had to focus.

“Sorry about before,” I said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He was breathing slightly heavily from pain and, I imagined, the smell of my arousal. “Must’ve been a doozy of a dream,” he said as he reached out to play with my hair. I fought the urge to collapse against him again, to let him hold me. I felt safe in his arms. All of the stress that I felt every day melted away when he cradled me against his chest, and I longed to feel it again.

Instead, I shrugged and opened my mouth to lie to him and tell him it wasn’t a big deal when I was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Conall, we’re having cocktails on the veranda before dinner. You two should join us,” Luna Nomi’s voice carried through the wooden door. “If you’re not… otherwise occupied, that is,” she added with a giggle.

Conall rolled his eyes. “Sisters,” he laughed, his voice full of affection.

My eyes widened in shock. “Sister?” I asked. “Luna Nomi is your sister?”

Conall nodded and started to swing his legs over the side of the bed with a slight wince. “She’s younger than me by four years. Not that you would know it by the way she treats me,” he answered with a smile. “When I’m in a good mood, I call it being overprotective. Normally, I just say she’s bossy as f*ck.”

I c*cked an eyebrow at him. “You’re not normally in a good mood?”

“Oh cr*p, you got me,” he said with a smile that made my heart trip. “She is bossy as f*ck, though.”

I laughed, shaking my head at him. “I think that sort of goes hand in hand with being a Luna.”

“Except she’s been like that all her life,” he winked at me. “Becoming Luna just made her worse.”

“I thought she had Alpa blood in her,” I mused, remembering when Micah had tried to get me to memorize a ton of information about the packs that surrounded us. I hated sitting still listening to boring facts. I’d much rather be running training sessions or hunting down rogues that tried to sneak onto our territory.

Conall shifted uncomfortably and looked away from me. “She does,” he mumbled. Before I could ask anything else, his phone buzzed and he reached over to dig it out from the pile of clothes on his chair. He sighed, looking at the screen. “Like I said, bossy as f*ck.” He turned the phone so I could read the text for myself.

“I was kidding… stop hogging my new sister and get your asses down here,” from Least Annoying Sister.

My eyebrows lifted in amusement. “Least annoying sister? How many sisters do you have?”

“Just the one, thank Goddess,” he chuckled as he quickly tapped a response that we were on our way before turning his disarming smile on me. We were sitting a hair’s width away from touching, close enough for his calming, masculine scent to envelope me. His eyes drifted to my lips, and I ran my tongue over them, seeking his lingering flavor. A low groan rumbled in his chest. Before our lips could meet, however, his phone buzzed again with a warning from Nomi that she would mind link him and risk the consequences if we weren’t downstairs in five minutes. I lifted my eyebrow in question as he winced. “She linked me once when I was with a girl. It was traumatizing.”

“We should probably get dressed, then,” I bit my lip in disappointment of not getting the kiss I so desperately wanted. “I’m not sure turning up downstairs like this would be appreciated.”

Conall took a deep, steadying breath and grinned at me. “Probably not,” he agreed. “Although it would serve Nomi right for threatening me.”

I quickly got up, putting more space between us before I could change my mind and see just how fast we could build each other up again. Not bothering with my still damp underwear, I slid my pants on, going commando. Grinning at Conall’s soft whimper of lust, I fastened my bra and slid my blouse over my head. I set my wrinkled jacket on the foot of the bed before reaching for his jeans and sliding them over his lower legs. Straightening back up, I held out my arms for him, surprised to find that he was glaring at me in anger.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded harshly.

“Helping?” I c*cked my head at him, wondering what I had done to make him so angry all of a sudden.

“I know how to dress myself,” he growled.

I blinked at him a few times as the meaning behind his anger slowly made sense. "How wonderful for you. I’m so proud to have a mate that can dress himself,” I said sarcastically. When he continued to glare at me, I huffed out a breath and ran a hand through my hair. "Don’t think I didn’t notice how much it hurts you when you stand up. Eventually, you’ll need to tell me why, but you’re just going to have to get used to someone giving you a hand now and then. Don’t f*cking ruin our tender f*cking moment by acting like a f*cking jackass. Jackass,” I finished my rant with a temperamental huff and glared back at him.

“You’re gorgeous when you’re irritated with me,” he said as his eyes softened and his lips twitched.

I continued to scowl at him, refusing to be swayed by his soft words and gentle tone. Once again, I held my arms out towards him, this time with a commanding stare, daring him to defy me a second time. Emotions poured off him- fear, anxiety, and finally resignation as he let out a small sigh. He rested his hands on my shoulders and held his breath as he rose slowly. The shock was evident on his face as I took most of his weight. The top of my head barely reached his shoulders as I helped him balance before bending down and quickly tugging up his pants with jerky movements. As soon as they were hugging his hips, I again took his weight so I could help him turn and slowly lowered him into his chair.

“You can do the rest yourself,” I said testily, tossing his shirt at him before turning and slipping my feet into the impossibly high heels that I both loved and hated.

He didn’t move. He sat watching me in awe, his mouth hanging open.

“You might want to at least do up your fly,” I snapped at him. My irritated tone must have snapped him out of his haze because he closed his mouth and slowly licked his lips as he stared at me. I crossed my arms over my chest while I waited for him to stop acting like a fool, tapping my foot impatiently. “You did say you knew how to dress yourself, right?”

Instead of answering, he snagged my wrist and dragged me onto his lap. Rubbing his nose into my neck, putting even more of his scent on me so there could be no doubt who I belonged to, before dipping his head down to lick the line between my breasts while I squirmed against him. I froze when he looked into my eyes with so much adoration it terrified and awed me. Before I could decide whether or not I was comfortable with how deep his emotions ran, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine in an impossibly tender kiss that nevertheless had my blood pumping.

“Thank you,” he whispered softly when he pulled away. I wasn’t entirely sure what he was thanking me for, precisely, but at that moment, I felt like any words from me wouldn’t be enough to convey how I was feeling. I needed some time to understand the changes taking place in and around me.