ALPHAS TOY

chapter 6

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

“Patience, Spitfire.” Cole winked from behind Ethan. She clenched her 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,” Ethan explained, and Selene raised a brow. So that’s why my mom had been so vague. It wasn’t comforting; the unknown was terrifying. Selene shivered, not able to stop her next question falling from my lips.

“And if we don’t take the oath?”

Cole blew out a breath as Zachary 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, Evil girl. “Please...don’t punish us for her cursed tongue. She’s winter born.”

Selene rolled her eyes, of course. How could she forget her ghastly curse? Sometimes, in moments like these, it was hard for resentment not to creep in. Selene's parents knew what would happen to her and her brother for having children in winter.

They swore they were due in spring but came eight weeks early. They almost died and because they didn’t, they have the devil in them, or some stupid s**t like that. She seen no proof of that.

The red eyes from her dream flashed in her mind, and she shuddered at the lie she told myself. Selene shook it off and waited for the alphas to get annoyed and punish her for a birth she 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.

Selene almost snickered. Pleasure. She bet she wouldn’t even get an o****m out of the wolf bastard. Pity, it’d probably be the best o****m of her life. Selene's blood roared to life at the thought, and the alphas’ eyes snapped to hers. She lifted her chin defiantly, but that had their smirks growing knowingly. Ethan handed a goblet to her, his hands brushing hers as the other offerings were given theirs by their own alphas. Hers lingered. He leaned in, his warm hands cupping mine on the gold.

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

A tight heat prickled in her lower stomach, her p***y betraying her, growing slick at the scent of him, the radiating heat, the tension. Her n*****s hardened against her silk. He noticed. He growled against my neck, her head involuntarily rolling to the side. Selene's breaths came short and sharp through her tight chest as she fidgeted beneath his overwhelming body. His hand moved to her waist, the touch searing through her defenses, breaking them down easily as her thighs grew damper.

“Ethan,” Cole said, a warning tone in his voice.

Ethan ignored them, his hand latching around Selene, yanking her forward, flush against his body. She yelped, the goblet falling from her hand. Zachary caught it. He tugged Ethan back, his eyes bright red. “Ethan,” he said in a deeper voice.

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

Zachary handed her goblet back, warning Selene with his eyes before pushing Ethan back, who resisted for a second before stepping back to the concrete half pillars, the shadows covering his face. He was still watching. Selene shuddered, swallowing hard.

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

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

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

“It connects you to us,” Cole said, his shirtless body doing just as much damage to selene's libido. Did wolves not own shirts? He caught her staring and grinned. She quickly looked away.

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

They did, each stepping in front of their pillar, in front of their alpha. After reading the oath Selene stepped back at the end of the oath, her eyes widening.

“Drink,” Ethan ordered, his voice less hoarse, his eyes back to green. Selene hesitated as the other girls followed their orders. She looked at the swirling drops of blood, then the oath she had just spoken.

“What brand?”

“Drink and we’ll tell you,” Zachary 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,” Cole offered.

Selene sighed. She had to commit to an oath without knowing the details? Seemed like a setup to her, but she had no choice. She drank the blood. It was metallic and bitter. And then it was cold. Selene frowned, the room spinning as the liquid slid from her throat. Wherever it landed, her body didn’t like it. It stung like a bad sunburn as she screwed her face up, holding her stomach as the goblet fell from her hands. She swallowed hard as Ethan frowned.

“Is it meant to feel so s**t?” Selene gasped as a weakness spread through her, a heavy, icy feeling taking over as she stumbled.

“Zach,” Ethan snapped, holding her 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 Selene, and she looked from hooded lids that tried to close.

“Winter born,” he breathed, walking forward, holding selene's face. Her eyes fluttered closed as he did the eye thing again.

“What’s wrong, Zach?” Cole 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.

Selene shivered at the way he said “shadows.” She 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?” Ethan demanded.