Owned By The Alpha

1. The Village

Every year they came. Every year they tormented. Every year they stared from dark eyes and huge bodies at the offerings of the village.

This year was my year.

Turning eighteen was meant to be some amazing experience that the village deemed as an honor because of them.

Like being a chew toy for a bunch of asshole alphas for the night was something to celebrate. Like saving my vagina to be ripped to shreds by them meant I should be forever grateful to their big hairy balls. Yeah, right.

The village was usually quiet, but not tonight. Tonight was the blood moon. The night of the offerings. It was alive with music and the roar of a bonfire as the village prepared.

I looked over at the white dress my mother had laid out and sneered.

I had contemplated forgoing the whole thing by ruining my “purity” with the baker’s son in the men’s village, but last time they had been offered a nonvirgin, the alphas had lost their shit and burned almost every hut to the ground, ravaging the offender like a whore in front of the flames.

I shuddered at the memory of her splayed limbs getting fucked for the entire village to see. The worst part was, she had enjoyed it. They were that good with their wolf dicks.

The girl thought she was some sacrifice to them, giving her body willingly, letting them take her in every hole in the dirt and mud, screaming in pleasure for hours.

I shuddered and sank below the water of the tub I was in. The water was almost cold now, and I had scrubbed every part of myself clean, but I couldn’t bring myself to get out.

I wasn’t just on show for the alphas tonight. My dad was coming to the offering. I hadn’t seen him in years—since puberty. He lived in the men’s village with my brother and had for years, as was the tradition.

Girls of the village turned eighteen, gave themselves to the alphas, then came back the next day as “women.”

The men had their choice of a wife, but being a wife was a loose term. It just meant they had been chosen to reproduce. My father had chosen my mother because she had nice tits.

I scoffed and looked down at mine with a roll of my eyes, sinking lower so I couldn’t see them. I had inherited those and was dreading the disgusting men that would come to inspect them.

I had no idea who it would be. The men and women were not allowed to have any contact before eighteen to avoid the temptation, but I was looking forward to meeting my brother.

He was my twin, and I had never met him. It was fucked up, but there was nothing I could do. Nothing except get out of the bath and put the stupid dress on.

I was about to get out when my mom came in. Her face dropped when she saw me still in the bath.

“Lorelai! Hurry along, child! We need to get you to the bonfire with the other offerings!” she fretted, patting her blonde hair back into her claw clip.

She was wearing a stunning royal blue dress that matched our eyes, with a thigh slit and a deep V that wrapped across her thin waist.

Her dark red lipstick was perfect on her full lips, and I knew she was trying because she was going to see my father again.

Hopeless romantic that she was, she still believed he loved her.

I smiled. “You look beautiful, Mom.”

“Thank you, sweetie.” She blushed before pursing her lips and hurrying me out of the water.

I pushed her hands away as she tried to dry me. I snatched the cloth from her and wrapped it around myself.

“I will be out in a minute,” I promised, and she hesitated before nodding and leaving.

I needed longer than a minute, but I was already late.

That wasn’t a surprise though. Most of the tasks I was given seemed menial and dull, not worthy of my promptness. The ladies of the village had given up trying to lecture me in punctuality.

I slid on the white silk dress with a lace slit up the thigh running up my body to the side of my breast. It hung low, showing off everything I had to offer.

I grabbed for the white lace underwear and looked between them and my boxer shorts. They were white and infinitely comfier. I chewed my lip in indecision. They were coming off anyway, so did it really matter?

“Don’t you dare, Lorelai. Wear the clothes you have been given,” my mother said, opening the door with a firm scowl. She knew me too well.

I huffed and slid the panties on with a grimace. She beamed, then came forward with a brush. I sat down at the wooden vanity as she brushed out my damp waves that were raven black, just like my father’s.

“Are you nervous?” she asked, and it was the first time she had openly spoken about the offering.

I shook my head. “No. It’s just sex.” I shrugged, and she smiled warmly.

“Then you are braver than I was at your age.”

“Did it hurt?”

She nodded, her eyes shimmering with the memory. Thanks Mom, now I was afraid.

“But not to worry. The alphas now are much nicer. Gentler.” She gave me a reassuring smile, but I didn’t believe her. The alphas were anything but gentle.

“How many offerings are there this year?” I asked, not sure why I cared.

“Seven. You’re the last, being born in winter.” She smiled, but it was a timid smile, and I was sick of the pretending.

I spun to her, clutching the back of the chair as she paused midbrush.

“Oh, I forgot, winter borns are cursed,” I snapped. “Maybe I’m lucky; they’ll have tired themselves out by the time they get to me.”

My mother gulped, then slipped her palm down my cheek, resting my chin in her fingers. “It doesn’t happen like that, Lori,” she whispered, and I frowned.

“Well how would I know? You haven’t explained anything to me,” I huffed, and spun back so she could finish my hair.

We had to go, or I couldn’t offer my precious purity to the beasts that lived in the city. The brush came through my hair slower before my mother stopped.

“They’ll come and inspect you all. Then you’ll get in the carriages. Their favorites will get in their personal carriage.

“You’ll go into the city to their compound. It’s beautiful, a gorgeous mansion filled with all the amenities, food, and luxuries you’ll never see again. It’ll have you in awe, and then they’ll split you into groups. One per alpha,” my mother said, seeming far away, but I was transfixed.

She had never gone into so much detail, and I didn’t know how much I wanted to know.

“Wait, you don’t have to be with all three?” I asked, relief pouring through me, until she gave me a sad smile.

The three alphas ran the three different parts of the realm, but they all lived in the city.

We lived in the Grassland, where hills and farmland stretched for miles broken only by the gravel roads. The other two were the Forest and the Water.

“Not at once. You’ll be put in the group with the Grassland offerings first. Then they’ll barter,” she said, and her voice broke.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Barter?”

“Swap and trade which virgins—offerings, I mean,” she corrected, but I had heard it, “they will have first. Which alpha will be the one to claim your purity.”

“And once the groups are chosen?” I was afraid of the answer, but my mother huffed and stood up, rubbing her thumb on my cheek.

“And then they will accept you as a part of Werewolf Territory, taking your purity as an offering.”

“You mean as payment,” I sneered, and Mother scowled at me.

“They protect us, Lorelai. If it weren’t for the wolves, our village would have been destroyed during the great war, the vampires would own humans, and we would simply be walking blood bags,” she reminded.

“As opposed to walking sex slaves?” I taunted, and her scowl deepened.

“Enough, Lorelai. It’s the way things are. We are human, surrounded by creatures far more terrifying than us. We must accept the blessings we are given, and that is the protection from the alphas,” she said, then left the room, expecting me to follow.

I did—just as the horn blared from the bonfire.

Mother’s eyes widened. “Lorelai, run!”

2. The Offering

“What, why?” I demanded.

“They are here! You cannot be late or our family will be cast to the Vampire Territory!” she cried.

I sucked in a breath. I had never seen that happen before.

She pulled a shawl over her shoulders, then grabbed my hand, abandoning our hut and hauling me through the matching homes.

It was bloody freezing, the warmth of the fire and wooden floorboards at home changing to damp grass and soft mud. I hadn’t even put on my twine shoes.

Apparently, that was less of an infraction than being late.

Mother and I raced through the huts toward the bonfire as the music leveled and the villagers fell quiet.

The night air was cold and ominous as my mother pushed me into the lineup with the other offerings, all wearing the same provided silk lace dress that I was. They had their twine feet decor on though.

Breathing hard, I eyed the dark carriages on the gravel behind the bonfire. There were two of them, both black with a wolf head on the side.

Mother patted my hair down and readjusted my dress as the others were fluffed by their own guardians.

“Mom.” I smacked her hand away as she tried to stand me straighter. I was already taller than the other girls, I didn’t need to stand out more.

I hadn’t been nervous before, but now I was; something about standing there on display, waiting for them to climb from the carriages, had my heart racing.

“Please them, Lorelai. Make them happy,” my mom whispered.

“They have everything they could ever want or need in their fancy mansion; they have access to any girl in the entire Werewolf Territory. How the hell am I meant to please them with a vagina I’ve never used before?” I demanded in a hushed tone, and my mom tried to hide her smirk, failing as she held my face and kissed my forehead.

“I know the books you read, my dear, you know exactly what to do.” She winked back, and I snickered, drawing frowns my way.

I ignored them and hugged my mom.

“I love you,” I whispered against her.

“I love you too.” She breathed, then stepped back. She looked over me, her eyes filled with pride, just as the moon began to cast red shadows over everything.

I sucked in a breath and looked up. The blood moon.

“Holy shit,” I bit, my legs feeling like jelly as the severity of the situation hit me.

It wasn’t just sex. It was three alpha douchebags claiming my body in exchange for my family’s protection. A family I didn’t even get to see because of their stupid laws.

My eyes scanned the crowd, locking on navy eyes and a face almost identical to mine.

My brother.

He was taller than me, with clean stubble covering his jawline. His hair was dark like mine, his body slender like mine, his lips full like mine.

My eyes watered as I felt the twin connection burn through me, still as strong as ever, and I hadn’t realized how scared I had been of not feeling that.

I clutched my arms tightly, the cold air giving me goosebumps as I smiled at him.

“Lucas,” I breathed, and as soon as the name left my lips, a shadow fell over me.

I gasped, shrinking back from the wall of a man that towered over me. He was huge, muscles uncovered, body heat radiating from his form. His green eyes caught mine, and his lips curled back as he shoved his dark hair back from his face.

Nikolai Ferus. The Grassland alpha was staring me down, but it was his tattoos that caught my attention: grasslands turning to forest, then to an ocean on his arm before bursting into inky flames across his chest.

He snarled at me, and my eyes shot back to his. I refused to cower though, refused to step back. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Are we interrupting something?”

His husky voice did something to my stomach. I looked behind him to my mother, who was standing with my father. He narrowed his eyes at me, then nodded once, and I knew I had to make him proud.

I couldn’t let him down after not seeing him for years.

“No.”

“Are your knees broken?”

That voice pulled at something inside me again, and I shook my head, seeing the other offerings bowing before the alphas.

The other two were watching, their eyes full of hunger, their bodies just as intense and rippled in abs and muscle as the one in front of me.

“Shit, sorry,” I cursed, bending like the others before grimacing at my use of language.

The leanest of the alphas, Braxton Trux, the Water alpha, barked out a laugh before coming over and putting his hand on the shoulder of Nikolai.

He had a similar arm tattoo, but his started with the water. The other one started with the forest.

“Put that one in the front,” he said, his long blond hair pulled into a bun, a blue braid falling down his back with a bead holding it in.

I gasped, looking up, my eyes clashing with Nikolai’s again. He was my alpha. The Grassland alpha. I could feel it in every part of me, but the look that seared me reached even further than that bond.

His jaw was strong, his cheekbones high, and his black hair kept falling over his face, just for him to push it back again. He nodded once, and I pursed my lips.

I didn’t want to go in the front.

His eyes let mine go before he roamed over me slowly. I shivered underneath his gaze, my skin prickling as he inspected every part of my body. I felt naked, like he could see through the stupid dress they had chosen.

“Stand,” he growled, and everyone got to their feet. He stepped closer, my breasts brushing his torso as he looked down.

“Why were you late?” he asked, his voice a dangerous tone that said he was threatening me even though his words weren’t direct.

I scrambled my brain for an answer, opting for the truth-ish.

“I almost wore the wrong underwear. Sir,” I said, my eyes meeting his as his lips moved so close to mine, I could taste the whiskey on his breath.

A smirk tugged at his mouth before he leaned back, leaving my body drowning in sensation that I didn’t understand. His fingers brushed up my thigh, and my breath hitched.

He lifted my hem, revealing the white lace panties that I was required to wear, his finger tracing the lace trimming as my eyes fluttered closed, my skin on fire where he touched.

My heart raced. I had no idea why I was reacting so strongly, but it made the idea of getting naked with the guy that much more exciting.

“Hmmm. Carriage one,” he called before stepping back.

My eyes flung open, and he moved to the next girl. My eyes went back to my family.

My father was grinning proudly, his arm wrapped around my mom. She had tears in her eyes as my brother clenched his jaw.

I could feel his anger, and I wanted to go to him. I wanted to hug him. But I had to wait until tomorrow.

I swallowed back the emotion as the second alpha came over. The Forest alpha.

He was the oldest, but his face was the friendliest. His brown hair was shorter than the others and smoothed back. He wore jeans, his muscles and strong body on display as much as the other two.

The V on his hips went down below his waistline, and I bit my lip. The alphas were sexy as hell. I couldn’t even deny that.

My body hummed at the idea of being beneath that much power. Derik Achlis leaned in, sniffing my neck as I shivered, his body heat warming my icy skin. He smirked.

“Give Nikolai hell, beautiful,” he said in a low voice, brushing my ear with his lips before moving to the next girl.

I glanced over at Nikolai and swallowed as he announced that Portia Caldwell would be joining me in carriage one.

Perfect. Tonight officially made it the worst night ever.

Miss Perfect Portia… Just her name had me tensing. She was the leggy blonde who said all the right things, kissed ass like a pro, and never rubbed people the wrong way—except for me.

She was as bitchy as they came, and I had been on the rear end of the scorn from the villagers most of my life because of her. She proved my point with her next words.

“Oh, thank you. I am so grateful, Your Majesty, my alpha, but I must decline. It would be improper to willingly choose to be in the same carriage as a winter born. I wouldn’t wish bad luck on the night,” she said, as sweetly as molasses.

I rolled my eyes, and all three alphas turned to me. I had to work to keep my spine straight under their gaze.

Most humans avoided procreating in the months that led to a winter born, so there hadn’t been many. Not any in my lifetime. I clenched my jaw and steeled myself for the condescension.

“You’re winter born?” Nikolai asked.

I nodded once. We had already established that.

Nikolai and Derik looked toward Braxton. His eyes rolled back before swirling with blue and white. He nodded once, and his eyes flicked back to the ice blue they were before.

They looked at me again before looking up at the moon. The blood moon had crested, and Nikolai nodded toward the carriage.

“Carriage one.”

3. The Carriage

“Carriage one,” he said to me before looking at Perfect Portia. “Carriage one,” he growled, and she nodded quickly, clamping her mouth shut.

“Rest of you to two,” Braxton ordered, and they all rushed forward to their carriages as the alphas moved to carriage one.

I didn’t move with them though. Instead, I ran to my family. I had two seconds before I was hauled off by three sexy werewolves. I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow when I could have a fleeting moment now.

A grin broke on Lucas’s face as I ran into him. My arms wrapped around his neck as his closed around my body, lifting me off the ground, holding me tight as tears fell from my eyes.

“Lorelai!” my father growled as my mother gasped.

“You must go!” she begged, but Lucas kept holding me as I held him. Warmth and love filled me as I closed my eyes against him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. It was nice to meet you,” I whispered, and he squeezed me tighter.

Silence fell, until a feral growl broke it from behind me. My eyes flung open and Lucas put me down. I let go of him and turned to Nikolai’s stormy face.

“Sorry,” I tried, but he said nothing, looking between Lucas and me.

He stepped toward Lucas, but I stepped in front of him. The gasps of the villagers filled the silence. My mother gripped my wrist as my spine tingled in warning.

“You belong to the wolves tonight.” His chest rumbled before me and anger exploded in my chest.

I was wearing the stupid dress, the uncomfortable underwear, I was freezing, on display, and completely degraded for their sick virgin fantasies and he got mad because I wanted to meet my brother? Fuck him and the wolves.

“Are we going?” I demanded, pointing to the carriages, where the other two alphas watched on, wary eyes between me and Nikolai.

“Learn your place, human,” Nikolai warned, but I didn’t step out of his way, so he couldn’t get near Lucas.

“Can you stop? I haven’t met my brother because of this offering stuff, but I’m still here doing it, so can we get on with it already? It’s freezing,” I bit, sick of holding my tongue for the alpha when he was doing his best to prove what an asshole he was.

His glare turned to me, and I held his gaze. He spun on his heel and I followed, a lingering gaze over my shoulder before I climbed into the carriage with the alphas and Perfect Portia.

Enclosed inside with the alphas, warmth filled me. They were just so big; there was no way not to brush up against them.

I sat between Braxton and Derik, their biceps hard and smooth all at the same time against my arms.

Braxton sucked in a breath and looked at me, then at where his arms touched mine.

“Shit, you’re cold,” he said, pulling me under his arm, rubbing my stinging skin.

I laughed. “It’s almost winter and you chose a tiny silk dress to stare at us in. Was I meant to be warm?” I asked, then bit my tongue.

I had to get ahold of my attitude. The alphas may be hot as hell, but they were savages that could break me in seconds if they got too angry at me.

With the look Nikolai was giving me, that seemed more and more of a possibility.

“What’s your name, spitfire?” Braxton chuckled. It was a deep, throaty sound that seemed so natural I almost believed he didn’t have ulterior motives.

“Lori.”

“Your full name,” Nikolai demanded, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes at his anger.

“Lorelai Katerina Rosalynn Valarian.” I said my long annoying name that I never used. “Happy?” I spat, and his anger rolled off him in waves of heat.

His eyes went to Braxton’s hold on me, and he growled. “Mine, Braxton,” he snarled, and Braxton let me go, the heat going with him.

Without thinking about consequences, like usual, I stood and sank into the seat next to Nikolai, forcing myself into the tiny space next to him and sighing as his heat fell over me.

I leaned against him as his eyes widened, looking down at me like he couldn’t believe I had just touched him without permission.

I laughed at his expression, trying to ignore how good it felt to be pressed up against him, his thigh against mine.

“I’m freezing and you said I’m yours, so either help me warm up or let him do it,” I said in explanation.

Braxton laughed a loud barking laugh as Derik smirked.

“She’s got you there,” Derik said with a shrug as Nikolai huffed.

Before I could tell him to stop growling, he pulled me onto his lap. I squealed as he did before his arms went around me, enclosing me in body heat. I couldn’t help the sigh that fell from my lips at the feeling that rushed through me.

I leaned against him, soaking in the heat as Derik held his hand out to Portia.

“Come sit over here, love,” he said, and Portia took his hand, settling in between them. She was tiny between them, or maybe they were just huge.

“I’m Portia Caldwell,” she stammered, and Derik grinned.

“We don’t need your name tonight, sweetheart,” Braxton said against her jawline as he ran his lips along it, breathing in her scent.

I raised a brow as Derik nuzzled into her neck. Portia sat still as a board, her eyes wide, her cheeks flushed.

“Mmmm, is that vanilla?” Braxton sighed. Portia nodded stiffly. He grinned. “My favorite, how’d you know?”

He groaned, tugging her hair between his fingers, bringing it to his nose and inhaling.

“You’re such a creep,” Derik teased, his lips pressing along Portia’s jaw.

She was barely breathing. Her hands clenched in her lap, and I had to look away.

She was terrified, they had to sense that in her scent, and they kept going. They didn’t care.

Fucking alphas.

I went to climb from Nikolai’s lap, but he held me there.

“You made a big deal about this, now sit there until we get to the city,” he snapped, his fingers digging into my thighs.

I yanked his hand from me. “No.” I moved into the seat next to him.

He snarled and hauled me back, crushing me against him. “Mine.”

“Fuck you,” I snapped back, sick of the possessive growls and anger that contradicted his “mine” bullshit.

Braxton and Derik both growled at that as Nikolai roared. He grabbed my throat, pushing me down on the seat, leaning over me, his huge body suffocating mine as I tried to breathe through his grip.

I clenched my jaw, my hand holding his as the fury in his eyes swirled, but there was something else. The lust, the desire, the heat that melted my resolve.

I sucked in a breath and swallowed hard as the nature of his wolf teetered on the brink of his control. I wasn’t taunting him, I was taunting his wolf—and that was dangerous. More dangerous than I had thought about in the moment.

I sagged back against the seat as he pressed me into it.

“Stop. Challenging. Me,” he bit, his lips brushing against mine.

I sighed against the touch. The intensity of him leaked into me, desire clawing under my skin.

I wanted him. I had no idea why being snarled at, why him holding my throat turned me on, but maybe I was fucked up from being winter born.

I looked into his eyes, heat passing between us, everything else melting away as I tested the waters. I ground my hips against him.

He was rock hard against my thigh, and I bit my lip at the rush of adrenaline that throbbed through me, settling in my core.

“Make me,” I whispered past his grip, and he groaned. I lifted my thigh, rocking my hips against him as I leaned into his hold. His breath came through as shaky rasps against my skin as my fingers danced up his impressive biceps.

“Kai.”

A warning voice broke through, and he glanced over at Derik. His body shook, and he looked down at me, closed off from the desire this time. I fought the urge to sulk as he let go of my throat and the promising storm of pleasure.

“Don’t tempt me, human,” he said, before climbing off me and moving away. He didn’t even fight me when I sat on the other end of the bench seat.

I looked out the window, my hands shaking as I stared up at the blood moon. It would be there for twelve hours. I shivered and leaned my head against the window, my eyes closing.

I had no idea why I felt the way I felt, but if I could bait the alpha into holding me like that again, I couldn’t help but be tempted.

I chewed my lip as a thrill rushed through me at the idea of it. Was I broken?

Maybe. I was winter born, after all. I wanted the alpha to break me—well, I wanted him to try—and I wanted to be consumed by that fire in his eyes.

I glanced over my shoulder as Nikolai was glaring at Derik, who was scowling back.

It took me a second to realize they were communicating.

“Can you talk to each other in your minds?” I asked, and Braxton paused his caressing of Portia as the other two turned their eyes to glare at me. That seemed to be their go-to though, so I brushed it off.

“Stop playing with fire, little girl. You’ve had your fun, but fall in line before we get to the city or we will have to show you that your kind of defiance won’t be tolerated,” Derik warned, and I knew he meant it.

“We are werewolves, not equals. Your little game just then could’ve gone horribly wrong, and you don’t understand how badly yet—but maybe you will before the night is finished,” Derik continued, and I shuddered at his words.

I didn’t bother responding; instead, I looked back out the window, watching the Grasslands turn into the Water area.

The city was in the middle of Werewolf Territory, surrounded by the Water area like a moat, stretching into the Grasslands and extending into the Forest area.

Beyond that was Vampire Territory, and I had never been brave enough to find out what that meant.

I had never seen the city either though. Villagers weren’t allowed. The alphas didn’t come to the villages unless it was for offerings.

The wolves swarmed the city, the howls reaching into the carriage as we arrived.

I shivered as it reached inside me. A huge wall surrounded the city, and the giant black gates opened for us. I stared out at the lake that was surrounded by trees and rocks.

A cold pit dropped in my stomach as I stared through the darkness, the red of the moon stretching across the black lake. I frowned at the feeling as it sank further, cold and hard.

I narrowed my eyes through the darkness and swore my eyes found a shadow.

One that stared back.

4. The Shadow

“Wait…can we stop?” I asked breathily as the feeling tightened inside me. I had no idea why I felt it so strongly, but the shadows felt wrong. They didn’t match the trees.

“Why?” Nikolai asked.

I didn’t have an answer. I held my hand against my chest as the cold spread, and I shivered hard.

The shadow moved quickly from one tree to another, and just as I was sure I was making up shit in my head, two red eyes flicked open, staring at me from miles away, but it was like they were right there.

I gasped, shoving back from the window, my heart skipping as fear closed around me. I fell to the floor of the carriage, blinking hard, trying to get the image from my head. Those eyes.

“I saw… There was something out there,” I breathed.

Nikolai looked at me like I had taken crazy pills. So did the other alphas. Maybe I was delusional. Maybe it was the reflection of the water and the blood moon making the eyes seem red.

“It’s a full moon, wolves will be everywhere tonight,” Derik said, an edge to his voice.

I nodded slowly and climbed back onto the seat, yanking the curtain across the window.

“What do you think you saw?” Braxton asked warily, and I shook my head.

“Nothing. It was…just a shadow.” I inhaled deeply and tried to convince myself that’s all it was.

I held my arms across me as we were taken through the gates and through the city.

It was less modern than I had expected— the paths were stone in the ground, the buildings all stone, wood, and glass.

All of the streets looked similar until they came to the mansion. It was huge, with a sprawling lawn that was hosting multiple orgies as wolves ran, nipping and chasing each other.

I tried to keep my eyes inside my head as we were let out of the carriages and led up the stone path toward the mansion.

Some of the people in the orgies paused, looking at the offerings with interest before going back to the entanglement of bodies they were in.

I looked straight ahead, the situation finally weighing on me.

It was just sex, but it was about to change everything. Fear tightened inside me, coiling around my stomach as I tried to keep my shit together. I didn’t want to be the scared little virgin, but I was.

I knew it was going to hurt, and with all the games with Nikolai, I had forgotten why I was there. I remembered now as we were ushered into the foyer of the mansion.

It was grand and beautiful, nothing like my village at home. There were dark wooden floors with a double staircase on either side, leading up to a dark hall that led somewhere I didn’t even want to guess.

I looked around at the big statues—all wolves—that surrounded the marble foyer.

Mom was right; it was more luxury than I’d ever see again. The wall lamps were made of glass and lit the place enough to see we were being led into a seating room.

The offerings from the other villages were already there, and after a quick count, there were about thirty of us.

Could werewolves really fuck ten girls in a row? I shuddered. Mom had said I would go last, and I hoped that was true and my theory about being tired worked out.

We were all in white: the Grasslands in the silk nightie, the Forests in long flowy white gowns, and the Water group in high-waist flowy skirts with a crop. All white for purity.

I huddled with the others as the alphas stood in the doorway, barricading us in. Not that it was a bad place to be barricaded in.

It was warm, with a bright fireplace and multiple plush seating options: couches, chairs, cushions… Even the rug looked comfier than my plain old seats at home that hadn’t been repaired in way too long.

I was terrible at sewing. And a little lazy. Hope that wasn’t going to be an issue for tonight’s festivities.

That had me smirking. The idea of lying there like a dead fish while the alpha tried to get a rise out of me had me almost laughing out loud.

I held it in by some miracle and looked up, my eyes clashing with Nikolai’s.

I stowed my threatening smirk to harden my stare as he stood at the front of the trio.

“Offerings of Wolf Territory,” he said, and everyone stepped back in the large room.

I stood my ground, not letting him intimidate me. He was using my body; he wouldn’t have my mind or my will.

He noticed.

“One by one you will be taken through the door at the back. Once you pass through that door, everything you see and do will be private information. Tell no one,” he said.

Everyone turned to look at the door, every girl looking paler as the full weight of what we were there for hit us. The solid, dark wooden door with a silver wolf head on it seemed more dramatic than it needed to be.

“Stay in this room no matter what. The rest of the mansion is off limits. Step foot outside this threshold and you’ll regret it,” he promised, and it made me want to put my toe across the line just to see what they would do.

Then I realized that was a stupid get-yourself-killed idea and decided against it.

Braxton stepped forward, lining up next to Kai. “There are drinks on the table there. We suggest you choose the alcoholic punch. You’re going to need the liquid courage.”

He winked as if he was being charming, and maybe that’s what the other offerings saw because not a single one flinched at the hidden threat.

They were prepared to walk blindly into the unknown. I wanted more answers. But by the glare Nikolai gave me, I wasn’t going to get them until I went through the door.

Derik’s turn.

He stepped in line with the other two alphas, all three of them magnificent, feral beasts with muscles and tattoos, but it was the searing darkness in their eyes that got me.

The wise, untamed look that made me think the night wasn’t going to be as straightforward as my mom had made it sound.

And maybe that wasn’t going to be such a bad thing.

“There’s books and chess if you get bored,” Derik said, pointing to the bookshelves and chess table, but I didn’t care. I was all about the fireplace, inching closer to the flame, the heat warming my freezing skin.

I gulped as they moved, weaving through the girls, sniffing and scenting the strongest out.

I waited impatiently, holding my arms as I took in the blood moon spilling in from the glass panes in the ceiling. It covered our white clothes in red shadows and made me smirk at how appropriate that was.

Pillars lined the room, vines, water, and a rock path curving down them in stone.

The three alphas. It was ingrained in every part of the place. It was beautiful the way the history was kept.

The three families had joined forces, held Werewolf Territory for centuries since the great war. I had to begrudgingly give them props for that.

I sucked in a breath as a coldness wrapped around me. I spun to the feeling, but there was nothing there. The corner of the room felt wrong though, the same as it had outside.

I shivered, seeing a shadow kissing the wall that matched nothing in the room.

Dread dropped in my stomach, that same heavy stone from before.

I walked slowly toward it, focused on the feeling, paralyzed by it. I was waiting for the eyes. I knew they were watching me, but I couldn’t see them. I wanted to see them.

Before I could reach the corner, strong arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me back, shaking me out of my stupor.

Nikolai dumped me back by the fireplace. My eyes wide, I looked up at him, his body heating me as much as the fire behind me.

His face dropped as he looked between me and the corner he had snared me from. I backed away slowly, a weakness hitting me. I stumbled, and Nikolai caught me.

The world spun for a second, and I took a steadying breath.

“Lorelai?” he asked, his voice softer than I had ever heard it.

It broke through the spinning, and I forced myself to stand strong.

“I’m good,” I bit, glancing over at the corner. I was losing my damn mind. Stupid werewolves.

“Kai. We’ve got to start,” Derik said, standing by his first girl.

Nikolai hesitated before letting me go and grabbing a random girl from his group, pulling her to the door as Braxton picked his.

He looked to me and nodded at the alcohol table. “Drink the punch. It’ll help,” he bit, before looking back at the others. “Wait here.”

Then the wolves disappeared.

Most of the girls huddled together, keeping to their respective villages, but I was winter born. Nobody cared where I went.

So, I found the alcohol. It was made up in a punch that swirled in my plastic cup, had a little fizz, and was a pinkish-orange color.

I had no idea what that meant, but I didn’t care enough to question it. Instead, I gulped it back before grabbing another one to sip.

The bittersweet taste coated my throat, and I went to the fireplace, sinking into the closest plush chair to wait my turn.

I had just started to relax into the warmth with the help of whatever I was drinking when the screams started.

5. The Oath

I sat by the fire, staring at the flames dancing in the ash as I drank the punch.

It was starting to have an effect; my tongue was numb, but my mind wasn’t. It heard every screech and scream as the three alphas came out, grabbing another three girls, then another three, until it was only me and two others.

I was next. I wasn’t ready.

My heart raced as the screams finally quieted and I took another sip, hoping it would numb my mind even more. My body felt relaxed, my muscles not tense at all, but my head was pounding.

I leaned back, resting my head against the big cushions on the couch, my eyes fluttering closed.

I had avoided his eyes burning into me every time he had come through that damn door, and the idea that I was going to be the next one he came to get had my jaw clenching.

I didn’t want to be the next one screaming like the others that had gone through.

I’d kill for a coffee. Or a nap. I took the second option, slowly drifting while I waited.

The red eyes were in my dream.

I gasped awake and Nikolai was there, bending down, his eyes meeting mine.

“Your turn,” he said, holding his hand out. I looked between it and the door.

“Did you at least change the sheets?” I grumbled, letting him pull me up.

He smirked and led me through the door. Braxton and Derik grabbed the last girls from their group and followed us through.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the room that greeted us. There was no bed, no lanterns. Only the moon shining down on us through the opening in the ceiling, casting its red glare.

The three alphas stood next to three concrete stands, each holding a golden goblet carved with the three symbols of Wolf Territory: a wave, a tree, and my own village’s symbol, a vine with flower buds, because the Grasslands area had meadows stretching over every part of it that wasn’t used for crops and animal farming.

The alphas all wore the same mischievous smirk, the shadows playing on their faces, making them look even bigger, even more intimidating.

Like they needed it. I was already nervous, and I was sure the others were too. I was just as curious though. Surely they didn’t expect us to fuck on the floor, so what the hell were we doing in the room with the goblets?

Nikolai stepped into the red rays of the moon.

His claw grew from the pointing finger on his hand, his eyes glowing red before he pierced his wrist with it.

We all gasped.

One of the girls whimpered, drawing the alphas’ attention. They glared at her as she shrunk back, her chin wobbling.

Nikolai held his wrist over the first goblet, his blood dripping into it. He moved to the next goblet, then the final one.

His eyes never left mine, and I wanted to be disgusted by what he was doing because I knew what it meant, but I wasn’t. I was even more intrigued.

He stepped forward, and the shadows moved down his face, dancing across his abs, his tattoo.

My mouth ran dry as I took him in. Strong, powerful muscle that had something stirring in me. Not entirely uncomfortable, but it was foreign.

I wanted to explore it further and when a smirk tugged at his lips, I wondered whether he could tell what I was thinking. What his body did to mine.

Derik and Braxton moved behind him, cutting into their own flesh with their claws, long, thick talon things, dripping their blood into the goblets as Nikolai finally spoke.

“Here you take an oath. A blood oath of loyalty to the Werewolf Territory. You become part of us,” he said in that deep, gravelly voice that had my stomach tightening.

I shivered, crossing my arms across myself, the cold of the room trying to seep in past the feelings Nikolai pushed through me.

“What oath?” I asked, wanting more specifics before I decided whether to take it or not.

“Patience, Spitfire.” Braxton winked from behind Nikolai. I clenched my jaw and tried to wait.

“An oath that forbids revealing what happens tonight. An oath that holds your tongues to the traditions we expect of you tonight. An oath that makes you a part of our promise to protect you as a race within our territory,” Nikolai explained, and I raised a brow.

So that’s why my mom had been so vague. It wasn’t comforting; the unknown was terrifying. I shivered, not able to stop my next question falling from my lips.

“And if we don’t take the oath?”

Braxton blew out a breath as Derik stepped forward.

“Try it, beautiful,” he said with a smile, but his voice was a threat, cold and hard.

“Please…” One of the girls shivered, a Forest girl. “Please…don’t punish us for her cursed tongue. She’s winter born.”

I rolled my eyes, of course. How could I forget my ghastly curse? Sometimes, in moments like these, it was hard for resentment not to creep in. My parents knew what would happen to me and my brother for having children in winter.

They swore we were due in spring but came eight weeks early. We almost died and because we didn’t, we have the devil in us, or some stupid shit like that. I’d seen no proof of that.

The red eyes from my dream flashed in my mind, and I shuddered at the lie I told myself. I shook it off and waited for the alphas to get annoyed and punish me for a birth I had no choice in.

But they didn’t.

“Tonight is about sacrifice. About warmth and pleasure. There will be no punishments,” he said, before reaching back for a goblet.

I almost snickered. Pleasure. I bet I wouldn’t even get an orgasm out of the wolf bastard. Pity, it’d probably be the best orgasm of my life.

My blood roared to life at the thought, and the alphas’ eyes snapped to mine. I lifted my chin defiantly, but that had their smirks growing knowingly.

Nikolai handed a goblet to me, his hands brushing mine as the other offerings were given theirs by their own alphas. Mine lingered.

He leaned in, his warm hands cupping mine on the gold.

“I can smell you,” he breathed, my hair brushing my face as I tensed. He nuzzled his face in my neck, sniffing as his hands clasped on mine, tighter, warmer.

A tight heat prickled in my lower stomach, my pussy betraying me, growing slick at the scent of him, the radiating heat, the tension. My nipples hardened against my silk.

He noticed.

He growled against my neck, my head involuntarily rolling to the side. My breaths came short and sharp through my tight chest as I fidgeted beneath his overwhelming body.

His hand moved to my waist, the touch searing through my defenses, breaking them down easily as my thighs grew damper.

“Kai,” Derik said, a warning tone in his voice.

Nikolai ignored them, his hand latching around me, yanking me forward, flush against his body. I yelped, the goblet falling from my hand.

Braxton caught it. He tugged Nikolai back, his eyes bright red. “Nikolai,” he said in a deeper voice.

Nikolai stepped back, his glowing red eyes catching mine, the intensity so fierce I sucked in a breath.

Braxton handed my goblet back, warning me with his eyes before pushing Nikolai back, who resisted for a second before stepping back to the concrete half pillars, the shadows covering his face.

He was still watching. I shuddered, swallowing hard.

“Soon, brother.” Derik held his shoulder, his claws out, resting there, and I had a feeling Kai was still on the edge of not listening to his other alphas.

“The oath,” Nikolai rasped. “Then drink the blood.”

The other girls gasped, but I had seen it coming.

“It connects you to us,” Braxton said, his shirtless body doing just as much damage to my libido. Did wolves not own shirts? He caught me staring and grinned. I quickly looked away.

“Come forward, girls,” Derik said with an impatient huff.

We did, each stepping in front of our pillar, in front of our alpha.

“Read the oath,” Kai pressed.

I looked down at the old script carved into the concrete and read with the other girls.

I pledge myself to my alphas.

I pledge myself to Werewolf Territory.

I offer my purity as a token of my loyalty.

I accept their protection.

I accept their bodies in mine.

I will protect the secrets and traditions of the blood moon with my life.

I will tell no one of this ceremony.

I will accept the blood of my alpha in my body.

I will accept the brand of my alpha on my body.”

I stepped back at the end of the oath, my eyes widening.

Brand?

“Drink,” Nikolai ordered, his voice less hoarse, his eyes back to green.

I hesitated as the other girls followed their orders. I looked at the swirling drops of blood, then the oath I had just spoken.

“What brand?”

“Drink and we’ll tell you,” Derik said, nodding to the goblet.

“If you don’t drink, we can’t answer your questions, Spitfire. You’re not sworn to secrecy until our blood is in you,” Braxton offered.

I sighed. I had to commit to an oath without knowing the details? Seemed like a setup to me, but I had no choice.

I drank the blood.

It was metallic and bitter. And then it was cold. I frowned, the room spinning as the liquid slid from my throat.

Wherever it landed, my body didn’t like it. It stung like a bad sunburn as I screwed my face up, holding my stomach as the goblet fell from my hands. I swallowed hard as Nikolai frowned.

“Is it meant to feel so shit?” I gasped as a weakness spread through me, a heavy, icy feeling taking over as I stumbled.

“Brax,” Nikolai snapped, holding me up.

Why were the other girls not feeling it?

Braxton’s eyes rolled back in his head, that same white swirling from before, coating them. He growled, then sucked in a breath. His eyes snapped back to me, and I looked from hooded lids that tried to close.

“Winter born,” he breathed, walking forward, holding my face.

My eyes fluttered closed as he did the eye thing again.

“What’s wrong, Brax?” Derik snapped.

“The winter is fighting the blood.” He smirked. “Her shadows don’t like us in her body with them.” His eyes went back to normal, and he stepped back.

I shivered at the way he said “shadows.” I didn’t want them anywhere near me.

“We’ve never had a winter-born offering. There hasn’t been one in over a millennium. Will this be a problem?” Nikolai demanded.

I almost hoped he’d say yes and let me go, but he smirked and shook his head.

“No, our blood is stronger. She’ll be fine. But she will be the most powerful offering we’ve ever had.” His mouth went wide across his face, and I blew out a breath.

The coldness subsided, the heavy ache being flushed out with a warmth that I knew was their blood. I pushed back from Nikolai and glared.

“I have no shadows,” I snapped, feeling somehow violated, but the alphas ignored me.

Derik looked up at the moon and cursed. “We’re running late. We need to finalize the branding,” he warned, clearly the more serious alpha of the three.

I flinched at the idea of branding. I’d had to brand the cows at the last calving for the year, and the burned flesh smell had made me vomit.

I wasn’t cut out for farming. I stuck to the wineries, squishing the grapes, taste testing, bottling. There was something therapeutic about it, but I didn’t have time to think about that now. I had to prepare for a brand I didn’t want.

Nikolai nodded, and his fangs dropped. I gasped as the other girls took steps back.

The other two dropped their fangs. Two elongated canines on the top, two on the bottom, their other teeth looking sharper.

Their eyes went red, and I realized what they were doing. “You’re going to bite us?”

I shuddered.

Nikolai nodded. “The bite of your alpha,” he said, walking forward as the others claimed their offerings.

The girls’ screams made me jump, piercing the room, echoing, bouncing off the walls, and I knew that’s what I had heard through the door.

I glanced over at them, Braxton and Derik tearing through their clothes to get to their hip. Derik sank his fangs in first. Then Brax. The girls sobbed, screaming, and I backed up from Nikolai. I hated pain.

“No point in running, Lori.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t want it to hurt,” I admitted, not ashamed of my aversion to pain.

He hesitated, then a smirk crept across his face. “It doesn’t have to hurt,” he offered, and I raised a brow.

“I have a feeling I am going to regret this, but what do you mean?”

He backed me up against the wall, his finger running up my thigh, slipping under my silk nightie, brushing my hipbone.

“We put the bite here so it is not visible to others, keeps the secret, and can be easily covered. But there are other places to put it that aren’t so painful,” he breathed, leaning closer as I swallowed a stuck breath.

“Like where?” I asked, sucking in a breath when he lowered himself down my body, his face in front of my pussy.

He lifted the silk, revealing my damp lace panties. He gave a growl of approval before leaning in.

I gasped as his warm breath teased me, his lips brushing along my thigh before pressing them against the hot skin on the inner of it. I almost moaned at the feeling.

I clutched the pillar of the wall I leaned against. His fingertips brushed along my outer thigh as he kissed the inner again, his fangs scraping lightly. He tapped the spot he had kissed, then looked up at me.

“If I bite you here, your husband might not appreciate it when he chooses you tomorrow, but it will feel like I just sucked your clit.”

He grinned, and my eyes fluttered closed. I didn’t care about my ceremony tomorrow, it was tomorrow’s problem. I wanted less pain tonight, so I nodded, meeting his eyes.

“Do it,” I breathed, and he grinned, kissing the flesh under my pussy with tender lips before he opened his mouth and latched on to the skin.

I cried out as his fangs pierced the skin, sinking into flesh. But holy fuck, I almost came. My knees shook to hold me up as blinding pleasure tore through me.