The Alpha

Chapter Eight

Josephine

My body feels suspiciously warm as I slowly wake up. I keep my eyes closed because the thought of having to get up and deal with the monster today almost hurts me physically. I snuggle in closer to the warmth behind me and let out a content sigh. This is sort of a great way to wake up: nice, relaxed, and warm. Wait....what's the warmth coming from?

My eyes snap open in seconds, and it takes me a few more seconds to realize that I have arms wrapped around my stomach. I can even feel someone's consistent breath on my neck. Oh. My. God. I scream and push away, falling off the bed. I hit the floor with an oomph before I check to see if I'm still wearing my clothes. They're on. Thank god.

"Keep it quiet, baby. I'm sleeping." A male orders with a sleepy voice and I peek up to find Theo laying there with one eye open, looking at me. I shriek again and stand up, running for the door. He's up and in front of me in less than a second. Damn him and his alpha abilities. He catches me by the waist before I can reach the door with a low growl.

"Hmm." He drags me back to the bed and pushes me down. I blink up at him only slightly terrified. He ignores my expression and climbs on to the bed right next to me. "It's too early for you to try and escape. Wait until later." His voice makes me shiver when he murmurs into my ear while pressing my body against his. What is even going on right now? I swallow hard and wiggle I. His grasp but his grip just tightens around me with a low snarl.

"Let me go!" I tear at his hands but his grip is like iron. He pulls me even closer.

"Never." He chuckles like this is all a game.

"I'm gonna scream again." I threaten with my voice slightly shaking and he kisses the back of my head.

"Go ahead. No one will come." He seems to be close to falling asleep so I relax. When he falls asleep I'll have a better chance at getting out of here. After I quit squirming, he relaxes too and soon his breaths become even. Well that was quick. I start to move ever so slowly down through his arms but I only get a centimeter before he pulls me back up and tightens his arms around me even more. His mouth moves and his lips are suddenly pressed against a spot on my neck that sets my whole body on fire. Shit. He found it.

"Do you want me to mark you, Josephine?" He growls at me and I shake my head, words leaving me as he presses soft kisses to the spot that he's found. Every female wolf has that one spot that's exactly where their mark is supposed to go and only their mate can find it. Looks like Theo found mine. Yay.

"Are you sure about that?" He murmurs, his teeth softly touching my skin. I squeeze my eyes closed and try to not show that this is affecting me in any way.

"Y-yes." I stutter, letting out a staggered breath. He smiles against my skin and I make a small sound in my throat. Oh god. This is really really bad.

"Huh. You don't sound like you don't want me to." He points out, pulling away. I let out a shaky breath and press my face into my pillow. Why me?

"Get away from me." I say as my head clears. The things his touch can do to me is unfair. How am I supposed to resist him when my knees go weak every time he touches me?

"Awe, baby, no can do." He nuzzles his nose into my hair. I lean away and he growls. "We've got some stuff to do today." With that, he climbs out of bed and goes into the bathroom. What? I look around before realizing his mistake. I'm alone and there's a door right there. Adios Alpha Lupine. I'm outta here. I get up and sprint to the door. It's even unlocked! I run out of that place like my life depends on it.

"Luna?" Someone calls as I sprint past and run right out of the giant cabin. My head start is quickly fading. I need to decided where I'm going. Once I'm in the woods quite a ways, I strip my clothes off and set them on the ground before I shift. I'll run faster this way. I pick my clothes up in my mouth in wolf form and then continue my sprinting. I need to be as far away as possible.

A wolf howls from behind me but that howl doesn't belong to Theo. I would know. My heart hammers dangerously as I hear a wolf crashing through the bushes from behind me. I have to go faster. But I'm not quick enough. The second the giant black wolf sees me, he roars so loud the ground might shake.

I whimper and cringe by manage to keep running. He's gonna catch me but at least I can say that I tried. A mouth snaps at my tail. Oh shit, he close. Making a split decision, I stop running and shift into human form right as he reaches me. His wolf eyes me with his teeth exposed in a snarl. But his eyes are quickly turning black. I look down at myself and make a startled sound. Right! I didn't put my clothes back on.

I quickly get dressed and he watches patiently as I do. Well that's unnerving. Once I'm standing there in front of him, waiting and ready to go, he steps forward and presses his nose into the side of my neck right where my spot where he has to mark me is. He closes his eyes breathing my scent in. Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I reach up to push his mouth away but his eyes snap open before I can even touch him. His look is clear. I've reached my limit of how much I can disobey him today. He nips softly at the spot and I take a step away from him out of instinct. He snarls at me before taking my shirt in his mouth and dragging me back towards the cabin. Once I'm back there, he won't make the mistake of letting me escape again. This is my only chance.

I frown as two wolves come into view and drywall towards us. This was my only chance. Those wolves are obviously from Theo's pack, meant to prevent me from running away again. I glare at them but they don't respond.

The cabin soon comes into view but he doesn't drag me inside. He takes us around the back and into the clearing we were in yesterday. I bristle at the sight of all of his men gathered around a campfire. Murderers. Every single one of them. As soon as they see us, they all stop talking and nod their heads in respect to the alpha. Theo lets go of my shirt when we're standing in front of them and they all look me over.

"He wants you to sit down." One of the men speaks up and I bristle at being told what to do. Theo nudges my butt with his nose and I step forward, sitting down next to the least scary male of the group. They look like a large gang of bikers or something equally as terrifying.

I swallow hard and Theo comes toward me still in wolf form. The guy I was sitting next to moves away from us. Great. Theo circles me once, growling, before he lays down on top of my feet.

The message is clear: I belong to him and will not be going anywhere.