Desired by the Alpha (Wolf Destiny Book 1) (6 page)

“Hello, dear! Come over and sit with us.” It was Mrs. Helms, her mother’s old friend, and she was dragging Olivia over to a table almost before she knew what was happening. “I heard you were back in town.”

How? How had she heard that? Olivia didn’t even bother asking. Gossip flew through this town like it was blown by the wind, and she had never understood how it travelled so fast.

“How’s your mother doing? All settled in? You remember Mrs. Briggs, of course,” she said, gesturing at her companion, who gave Olivia a tight smile. Mrs. Helms kept talking even though Olivia still hadn’t gotten a word in herself.

“So, what are your plans now?” Mrs. Helms asked as the waitress set a cup of coffee down on the table in front of her, spilling it as she did. “Now that you’re no longer a dancer.”

The words were like needles piercing through her flesh. The truth was bad enough, but to hear someone casually talking about her failure right to her face, with more than a hint of smugness, was too much.
 

“Oh, I have big plans,” Olivia replied, trying to match Mrs. Helms’s snobby tone. “I have several offers I’m considering. The only trouble I’m having is which one to choose. I’ve been headhunted by… well. It’s confidential at this stage. Nothing I can talk about now.”

Olivia swallowed half her coffee to stop herself from grinning at their surprised faces. Ha. She might be lost and directionless, but no-one else needed to know it.
 

As soon as she could, she excused herself, leaving some money on the table despite their false protests that she didn’t have to.
 

Forget them. Olivia went back to the first store she had gone to, heading straight for the racks she had lingered at earlier. The pieces she had tried on earlier were already hanging back in place. Flinging them off the rack, she took them up to the cashier.
 

Dusk was falling by the time she got back home. Olivia hurried upstairs to her old bedroom. She couldn’t quite bring herself to take over her parents’ bedroom quite yet. In her mind it still belonged to them.
 

Emptying her bags out onto her bed, she pulled her old clothes off, eager to get into her nice new things. She hadn’t even wanted to take them off at the store when she first tried them on, she liked them so much.

The outfit looked even better now, away from the glare of the fluorescent lights.
 

Okay, so maybe a sheer red top and form-fitting black pants weren’t the most practical pieces to buy. But they looked great on her, hugging her curves and making her feel sexy.
 

Adding the brand new pair of sparkly silver studs to her ears, and her outfit was complete.

Olivia was halfway downstairs when she realized what she was doing. Damn it. Annoyed, she went into the kitchen. A quick search through the cupboards and a twist of a bottle opener later, she had a glass of white wine in her hand.
 

Sitting down at the counter, Olivia took a long sip. She hated to admit it, but she had been acting like she had a date tonight.
 

Blaize had been the first man…well, male…she had been with since Ron. And she was crushing on him as if he was a potential new boyfriend or something. Every time Olivia tried on something new today, she had gazed at herself in the mirror and wondered if he would like the way she looked in it.
 

As if she was going to see him again. Ever.

Shaking her head at the ridiculous fantasy that Blaize was her new lover, she went to stand in front of the big picture window in the living room, pausing only to turn out the lights so she could see the woods outside.

Even if there was a pair of black eyes looking back at her from the depths of the trees, she wouldn’t be able to perceive them from this distance. The forest was still as dusk turned into darkness, cold and silent, keeping its secrets to itself.

Chapter 5

Extremely restless, Blaize raced back and forth, a change from his usual stealth mode of working. His eyes narrowed as he scanned through the trees. Humans didn’t venture in too often, especially at night, but he preferred to scare them off than attack. They had learned over time that attacking wolves would never end well for them. Even the young, arrogant ones tended to avoid the woods nowadays, far different than the stories the elders told.
 

Sometimes Blaize wished for a chase, just for the fun of putting enough fear into someone so they would spread the word about being chased by a werewolf. The story would get told to others who would embellish it until most humans wouldn’t dare come near their territory again.
 

For now he had to settle with running aimlessly, trying to burn off the excess energy that boiled through his veins. And to try not to think about what had been revealed to him.

But that was impossible. His mind ricocheted in all directions but always came back to the thing he most wanted to avoid.

A human was meant to be his mate. That wasn’t supposed to happen. But try as he might, he couldn’t ignore his instincts, especially now when they were driving him crazy.

He had spent so much time trying to avoid fulfilling his destiny. And now a huge part of it had crept up quietly, overtaking him when he would never have expected it. How could that have happened?

And what would happen when the rest of his pack discovered it?
 

It was terrible. Even if he couldn’t dodge his destiny forever, he had planned to put it off for quite a lot longer than this. Having his world turned upside down when he wasn’t even close to wanting to settle down with his chosen mate was not in his plans.
 

Blaize’s life was going just fine as way it was, and he wanted to keep it that way.
 

His destiny had been explained to him when he was a child, and he had resisted all attempts to force him to pay attention as an adult.
 

He could avoid Olivia and see what would happen. What was it about her anyway? Her sweet smile alone had made him think twice about letting her go this morning.

But in spite of his strong attraction to her, maybe his instinct was wrong. There was a first time for everything. That had to be it. A human could not be the one meant to run by his side for the rest of his life.

It was his last night to patrol this part of the woods before he would move east tomorrow. He had to go to find Olivia if he wanted to see her again.
 

Running back the way he came, he veered sharply to the left and headed for the circle. Her scent would still be there. He traced its perimeter, sniffing the ground. Only faint traces of her should have remained. He breathed deeply, and her scent nearly overpowered him.
 

It was far too strong to be just the remains of her fragrance. She was close by.

Blaize spun around to face the spot she always arrived from, concealing himself behind a tight grove of trees.
 

Everything depended on him resisting Olivia. He shouldn’t have come here. He should leave without seeing her. He knew it. Instead he pawed at the snow, his impatience growing with each passing moment.
 

She was taking longer than she should have to appear. Perhaps she had changed her mind and turned around to leave. Maybe she wasn’t drawn to him after all.
 

Blaize heard footsteps and inhaled sharply. There was a new fragrance about her, something sweet like fresh flowers mixing with her natural scent.

Olivia stopped just short of the circle and looked around.
 

Blaize had only wanted to see her once more to convince himself that she was not the one. Her gaze stopped right on the bush he was using to conceal himself, even though there was no way she could see him. It was as if she was just as drawn to him as he was to her.

Almost without thinking, he shifted to human form. It was better he did so without her witnessing his transformation. It wasn’t a pleasant event to watch, even when you were used to it. Certainly she wouldn’t have seen a wolf shift before, and there was no need for that to change now. Not yet, anyway.

Shaking his head to try and clear it of his unwanted thoughts about the future, he quickly located the clothes he had stashed there earlier and pulled them on.
 

The battle between what he wanted and what he needed still raging strongly in his head, Blaize stepped out from behind the trees.
 

Almost against his will, he strode silently up behind Olivia. This had to end now.

Chapter 6

As if sensing his presence, Olivia turned, breaking into a smile when she spotted him. She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t have to. Blaize knew what she was thinking, because her thoughts matched his. Some of them, at least. The rest she couldn’t know about.

He fought his rising desire to take possession of her body right then and there. The only thing that stopped him was the dangerous possibility of getting caught. That was simply too much of a risk to take.

And he intended to go slower this time, enjoying her in ways he hadn’t this morning.

Forcing himself to tear his eyes from her, Blaize took her hand, twining his fingers through hers to lead her back to the trees. He slowed his normal pace down to match hers, although he would rather have been running.
 

When they reached the cave, Blaize dropped her hand and strode ahead of her.

“Wait here,” he said.

“Why?” Olivia asked, her mouth twisting in such a sexy way he had to stop and give her a kiss. What was supposed to be a quick taste of what was to come stretched out, his tongue meeting hers, their lips locking in a kiss that instantly became thrillingly deep.
 

Blaize gripped Olivia tightly, cursing the ridiculously thick coat that was in his way. He could barely feel her breasts as he held her to his chest.

As he was only wearing a shirt and pants, she didn’t have the same issue. Rubbing his growing erection through the fabric of his pants, she teased his cock until he was aching for her.

Pulling away abruptly, he disappeared into the darkness of the cave.
 

“I have to make sure we will be alone,” he called back over his shoulder. It was a cave that all the wolves used when they were patrolling this area, although the chances were slim there would be anyone else there now. Still, he wasn’t willing to be caught with a human. Not before he was ready to face the fallout that would come along with that discovery.

A quick glance told him they were alone. He went back out for Olivia, to find her stamping her feet against the cold. No matter. He would warm her up soon enough.

Blaize was by her side in an instant, taking her hand in his once more to lead her inside, stroking the pad of his thumb in slow circles around her palm as they walked.
 

Her body tensed up visibly, and he marvelled at how just the lightest touch could excite her. Pushing her coat from her shoulders, he held back from tearing the rest of her clothes off. So much fabric in his way, it was frustrating.
 

Blaize worked his way underneath her final layer, her warm skin available to his eager hands at last. Brushing her nipples, his fingers made Olivia suck in her breath as they hardened instantly under his touch.

Leaving one hand to fondle her wonderfully full breast, Blaize dropped the other one down between her legs, her heat searing him even through the rough fabric that covered her there.
 

Pressing her body close to him, Olivia ran her hands through his hair. Blaize had never had a female touch him so gently. Something about the way she touched him started something burning deep inside him, a hunger not just to be inside of her body but to possess her completely.

Dropping her clothes on the ground, Blaize bent his head, lapping at her nipples, sucking one after other into his mouth, his hands now able to roam freely over her heated skin.

Unexpectedly, Olivia pulled away. Before he could say anything, she was tugging his thin shirt up, working it off him with her shaking hands. He let her undress him, his erection springing free from the confines of the pants that seemed to do nothing but restrict him.
 

Olivia’s fingers curled around his shaft. The way she stroked his hard cock made him throb with an urgent need for her.

When she dropped down to her knees, her lips parted so sexily as she leaned in, all Blaize could do was stare. After licking teasingly all around his hard cock, she opened her mouth, sliding his length across her tongue.

Running his fingers through her hair, Blaize made an effort not to be too rough as he held her head close.

He didn’t know what she was doing with that mouth, but it was almost overwhelming. His burning need was heating up fast. If he didn’t stop her, he would reach the edge all too soon.
 

When she took him deeper into her mouth and started sucking rapidly, he had to force himself to untangle his hands from her hair. It nearly killed him to stop her, but his driving need to possess her again was making him crazy.

It took a huge effort to step back and pull out of her mouth. Blaize took her hand, helping Olivia to stand up and then scooping her up into his arms in one swift motion, catching her off guard.

He carried her over to the far end of the cave, the part with the softest ground that he had covered with a pile of cedar branches. He had hardly set her down when she took hold of his erection again, stroking rapidly.

Lying down with her, he ignored Olivia’s moan of protest as he moved out of her reach. His mouth went right to her breasts, kissing her stiff nipples before he sucked one between his lips, swirling his tongue around as she arched her body closer to him.
 

Parting her thighs with one hand, Blaize coated his strong fingers with her juices before sliding two of them inside her. Groaning at her tight heat and the way she rolled her hips in ecstasy, he worked his fingers expertly to heighten the sensations coursing through her body.