Lesser of Two Evils (2 page)

“So we share a
room?” she whispered.

“We are mating,
so yes.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why share a
room. This house is really big. I can take one of the guest rooms so you can
have your privacy.” She grabbed her duffle, but he took it from her and put it
back down.

“You sleep with
me.”

“Why?” She felt
petulant.

“So I can fuck
you when I want to.” She gasped. His eyes flashed. “Unpack. There will be a
cookout in a couple of hours. Shower, dress in something nice. I’ll be back.”
She watched him go and crumpled to the floor.
So I can fuck you when I want
to.
Oh, God. Eric was supposed to be her first, not this wolf. Then the
realization hit her. He was going to… Oh, God. She would have to undress in
front of him. She wrapped her arms around herself, which did nothing to stop
the tears that oozed down her cheeks. She sniffled and wiped them away.

Kerry put her
duffle in the closet on the floor and pulled out her best jeans and sweater. He
knew what he was getting. He’d seen her house. He had to know that she didn’t
have much. After all, her parents sold her to him. She went to the bathroom and
looked around. It was big, bigger than her living room at home. All the
fixtures were high-end. The counters and shower were dark-blue granite. The tub
in the corner would hold four people. The shower had multiple showerheads, with
one very large one in the ceiling. She reached in and turned it on. There were
bottles of shower gel and designer shampoo. Fluffy white towels hung on a rack.
She felt one. It was softer than she’d expected, and warm. This would be a
dream if she wouldn’t be losing her virginity to a stranger in a couple of
hours.

She sat in the
wing chair by the window and sketched without thinking about it. There was a
hawk perched out there on a tree branch, doing a good job of holding still. She
was curled up and comfortable. Her pencil moved mindlessly. “Pretty good,” he
said behind her. She stiffened. “The pack is waiting. Come on.” She put her
book and pencil down on the table, then followed him through the house. His
hand was heavy on her shoulder when they went out onto the porch. This pack was
huge. Her own was twenty members, but this one, she’d guess fifty easily. Pups
ran around shouting and chasing. She watched a male shift to catch up to his
friends. They were free and happy. Suddenly she missed a childhood that she
never had. “Everyone,” he called, and they turned to look at him all at once,
and Kerry tried to step back. She’d never liked attention.

“This is Kerry. After
tonight she will be your Alpha female.” He pulled her forward, and Kerry
swallowed. “Stop by and meet her later. Let’s eat,” he said, and they moved to
where the food sat. Tables were lined up end to end and were laden with food. He
took her elbow and led her down the steps to the head of the line. She looked
back at the wolves lined up behind her. An older man grinned at her and nodded.
“Come. We’re the guests of honor, we eat first.”

Ethan handed her
a plate and got one for himself, then moved to a platter of steak. Kerry took a
small piece after looking back at the long line again. He glanced down at her
plate. She followed him to the burgers, but didn’t take any, then to the corn.
Kerry took a half ear, then a scoop of coleslaw. She saw him look down at her
plate again but waited behind him. They were getting to the end of the tables.
She’d passed the potato salad, the hot dogs, the barbequed and fried chicken,
and the rolls. “That all you’re eating?” he asked.

She nodded.

Ethan put his
plate down and took hers away from her. He went back to the beginning of the
line and darted in between pack members. She couldn’t hear what they were
saying to him or what he said to them, but she saw him smile. Why would he want
her? He was powerful, it oozed off him, and he was too good looking to be with
her. He returned with a plate piled so full she knew she would never be able to
eat it all.

“I can’t eat all
of that.” She scowled.

“You can make an
effort.” He scowled back, and she gulped. He was intimidating when he was mad.
She took the plate and followed him to a table. He sat down in one of the
plastic chairs, and she pulled hers away from him and sat. He reached over and
slid it closer with her in it. She squealed, and he grinned. “Eat.” He pointed
to her plate. She picked up her fork and pushed food around. Her mother always
said to clean her plate, but she wasn’t hungry. There was too much there, and
it was all blending together, mixing and changing colors. She tried a bite of
the potato salad, which was too close to baked beans, and that changed the
texture. Kerry needed separate piles. It freaked her out when things touched on
her plate. Her father made fun of her for it and would stir his food together
and shovel it in his mouth. He said it all came out the same color. It would
gag her every time, and the thought of it did the same now.

“What’s wrong?”
He leaned over, and she gulped air, trying to keep what she’d eaten from coming
up. She shook her head. Her eyes were watering with the effort, and she felt
the acid burning in her throat.

“Oh, sweetie.” An
ancient she-wolf patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. Here, it’s all gone. Don’t
you worry.” The plate was taken from her view, and she felt better. “Ethan. You
can’t force-feed her,” she scolded and ambled away.

“What’s wrong
with you? Are you sick? They didn’t tell me you were sick,” he challenged her.

She shook her
head. The old she-wolf reappeared at her side.

“Here you are,
baby.” She put a plate down, and Kerry looked at it, feeling better. Steak, an
ear of corn, and a spoonful of coleslaw. It was just like the plate he’d taken
from her in line. “I was at the beginning when Ethan took this from you and
came back to fill it up until it resembled that mess. My pup was just the same
as you. She didn’t like anything touching anything else. Is that right?”

Kerry nodded.

The she-wolf
smiled and hugged her. “I’m Thelma, and you’re Kerry. I’m very happy to meet
you, Kerry.”

“I’m happy to
meet you, too.” She swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

“It’ll be okay. He’s
a good man when he isn’t in caveman mode.” She raised a brow at Ethan. “Easy.”
She turned and went back to her plate.

“Eat.” He pointed
at her plate. Kerry picked up the ear and nibbled the kernels off, then licked
her fingers. She heard a growl rumble from him but ignored it. She cut her
steak into bite-sized pieces and finished it, then ate her coleslaw. “Good girl,”
he murmured. Pack members stopped by and introduced themselves, then spoke to
Ethan about pack matters. After cake and ice cream were served, the women
started cleaning up. Kerry got up to help, but he pulled her back down into her
seat.

“They can take
care of it. You stay with me.” More stopped by, and daylight started to fade.
Ethan got up and took her elbow. He led her toward the house. He said goodnight
to everyone he passed until a beta stopped him. “This is Connor, my beta.”

“Hi,” Kerry said.

Connor nodded. “A
word?” he said to Ethan.

“Go to the
bedroom. I’ll be in shortly.”

Kerry hurried
inside. Once she was inside the bedroom, she leaned against the door, panting.

“Oh, my God,” she
whispered to the empty room. She heard him coming down the hall and trembled. If
it were Eric coming down the hall, she wouldn’t be afraid. Eric was nice, not
demanding, and not a giant. Maybe if she closed her eyes and pretended…

The door opened
behind her now, and she scooted out of the way.

“Undress.”

She skittered
away. Ethan’s eyes flashed, and she nibbled her lip. He turned on his heel and
went back down the hall. Kerry went to use the bathroom, then washed her hands
and face. She brushed her teeth and looked at herself in the mirror. How did
this happen? This morning she was perfectly happy, eating her cereal and
watching the news. Add twelve hours and she was about to lose her virginity to
a giant Alpha werewolf that was better looking than any wolf she’d ever known.
He lived in a house that belonged in a magazine, but he drove the crappiest
pickup truck on the planet. She blew out a breath. She heard the bedroom door
close, and swallowed. Time to face the music. Frozen in place, her fingers
gripped the blue countertop and looked unbelievably pale.

She closed her
eyes and tried to breathe evenly, calmly. She rolled her head around, trying to
ease the knots in her neck. Kerry had never been tenser.

Ethan knocked
softly at the door. She bit the inside of her lip until she tasted blood. The
door opened slowly. His eyes were full amber when she finally looked at him.

“Drink this.” He
handed her a heavy-cut glass tumbler of brown liquid. She sniffed it and made a
face. “Drink it,” he said again. She drank it down.

“Eww,” she
whispered. It burned all the way down and numbed her tongue. He took the glass
and her hand, then led her into the bedroom. He put the glass down on a table
and crossed the room to the side of the bed, with her in tow.

“We are going to
mate. I am going to mark you.” His voice was deeper, huskier, and Alpha.

“I know,” she
whispered.

“Are you okay?”
She was staring at the bed with him behind her. His hands were on her shoulders
and traveled down her arms and back up.

“I’m scared,” she
said quietly.

“I’ll be as
gentle as I can.”

“Just get it over
with.” Her voice cracked, and she wrapped her arms around herself for a second,
then pulled her sweater up and over her head. She dropped it to the floor. She
unfastened her jeans and let them fall. She trembled again. Her hands shook
while she unfastened her bra. She kept her back to him. He trailed a finger
down her back, from the nape of her neck down her spine. She shivered, and he
took his finger away.

“Get in bed.”

She climbed in
and pulled the covers up to her chin. He went into the bathroom and came out a
few minutes later. He didn’t have a stitch on and turned the lights out. Kerry
watched him in the darkness. He rounded the bed and sat on his side. He took
his watch off and laid it on the side table. Clicking the remote once and the windows
frosted over. That relaxed her a little. It didn’t matter if he said that it
was one-way, it felt like she could be seen, and she didn’t like it. Ethan
swung his feet in and pulled the blanket over him.

“Come here.” He
was on his side now, watching her. She licked her lips and hesitated. “Now.”
The power in his low voice left her no choice but to obey.

“Can I ask you
something?”

“Of course.”

She rolled toward
him and faced him. They were just inches apart. “Why me?” She chanced a look up
at his face in the darkness. The liquor made her brave, but it wouldn’t last.
She would need more if she was going to participate in this at all. Her belly
was flipping and folding in her gut. “I mean, you could have anyone, but you
had to pay to have me and…you could’ve saved money.”

He smirked.

“There are not
that many females of the right age in the area. I have pack members, but none
of them were to my liking. You were. Your mother and I met at the home center. We
had a nice conversation in the garden section, and she told me that you were
available.”

“My mom was
pimping me out in the garden section?” This made no sense.

He laughed. “No,
she and I knew what the other was, and the conversation just turned that way.
She said something about me bringing my mate to choose flowers for spring. I
told her I didn’t have one and that I couldn’t find one. She said something
about having a daughter that was on track to mate the pack Alpha but that she
didn’t want that for you. She said he was…how did she put it…a mean, old dick
that had no business with her daughter. We ended up in a coffee shop working
out the details of our meeting. Here we are. Now, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“How is it that a
female of your age isn’t mated yet? You are very lovely, and it surprises me
that you haven’t been scooped up,” he grinned. What a beautiful smile. She
thought that must be the bullshit smile because that’s what was coming out of
his mouth.

“There was Eric.
He’s in my pack, or he was until he went to college and met his destined mate.
I always thought that he and I would…everyone thought it, until he called his
dad recently. Luke is his dad, the Alpha.” Ethan nodded in the darkness, but
she could see him. “He said he wasn’t coming home this summer and that he was
going with her. My mom said that I should go with you because Luke is awful.
Why did you have to pay them?”

“She told me that
your dad was offered a beta position for your hand. I had to make a better
offer. She said he would rather have money than the position.”

“When did you and
Mom talk about this?”

“Weeks ago.”

Kerry narrowed
her eyes and thought. “So Luke made that offer before Eric called?”

He shrugged. “It
doesn’t matter now. You never have to see them again if you don’t want.” He
pulled her to him, and she stiffened. “Easy, girl.” He lowered his mouth to
hers and kissed her softly. His lips were warm and firm against hers. His
tongue traced the seam of her mouth until she opened for him. He growled low in
his throat, and he sucked on her bottom lip. Kerry eased away from him, but he
didn’t give up. He trailed kisses over her cheek and down her throat until his
mouth closed over her nipple. Kerry tensed. “Easy,” he murmured against her
damp skin. His hand found hers in the dark, and he kissed her knuckles. “Here,
if I do anything that you don’t like, you pull, okay?” He put her hand on his
head, then found her other hand and did the same thing with it. Her fingers
wove into his hair. It was so soft and shorter than she liked. Eric had long
hair, not that she’d ever touched it or anything. Ethan’s tongue traced circles
over each of her nipples in turn, then he sucked one into his mouth. Her
fingers tightened in his hair, but he continued. He placed careful kisses down
her abdomen to her panty line.

“These have to
go.” He fisted her panties and pulled them from her.

“No!” she
squealed. “You can’t do that!” She shouted.

“Do what? How
else did you think I was going to mate you? You can’t wear underwear through
it.”

“You ruined
them.” She held them up and looked at them. “I can’t fix this,” she huffed.
“Great.”

“What’s wrong?
They’re just underpants.”

“Yeah, one of
seven pairs. Now I don’t have a week’s worth because you ruined them.” Tears
pricked her eyes. “I don’t have extra clothes. I have to be careful with my
things.”

He grinned at
her.

“It’s not funny!
Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I will buy you
more in the morning, okay? I promise, you will have another week’s worth of
underwear before lunch. Okay?” She pursed her lips and knitted her brows. He
leaned up and kissed the clenched muscles over her nose. He took the panties
from her hand and dropped them over the side of the bed. “Spread your legs.”

His fingers
tugged at the inside of her knee, and she let him pull them apart. He kissed
the inside of her thigh, then the crease between her mound and her leg. She
quivered and felt him smile against her skin. His tongue dipped inside of her,
and Kerry nearly came off the bed. “Put your hands back in my hair.” She did,
and he moved so that his body was between her legs. He pushed her knees up and
spread her further.
What is he doing?
she wondered, then his tongue sank
into her channel, and she whimpered. He blew on her sex, making her toes curls
tightly. Ethan circled his tongue around the bundle of nerves at her center.
Her belly turned over, and muscles deep inside of her clenched. Tingles spread
through her and chased over her skin. He caught her clit between his lips and
sucked. Kerry felt the growl work its way up from her belly, and it was followed
by perfect pleasure, which rippled over her in waves.