Rejected by the Alpha

Chapter 21 - Just a taste

I bit my lip as Archer's kisses trailed closer to my core.

"Oh.. Um..." I mumbled, completely lost for words and unable to answer his question. He had said he wanted to taste me and with the direction of his mouth I could only assume what he meant.

I gasped as he bit the fabric of my black lace panties between his teeth and pulled them down. My breath went ragged betraying me. I let him take them off my legs and in one swift movement, he moved my other leg onto his shoulder and sat me on the edge of the desk. "Let me make you feel good lena," Archer said giving me a smouldering look.

My mouth felt suddenly dry as I tried to speak. "Would... Would this count as claiming?" I asked him and he smiled in response.

"No Lena. I won't claim you until you're certain you want me to."

"Okay," I told him..

"If you want me to stop, tell me to stop," he said before he began trailing kisses up my legs and thighs in earnest. I moaned under my breath as he got closer and closer to my core but without touching me there. I wanted him to touch me there so badly in that moment.

Then he did.

It felt empowering. Archer's mouth was on me as my thighs sat on either side of his head. I ran my hands through his hair as he built a need inside of me. I felt like I was tingling all over. My toes curled. The need built more and more until I felt I was going to explode. My back arched and my head rolled back. My breathing was more and more erratic until I was panting and then.... The wave hit. Wave after wave of euphoria as I came down from the high, my fingers still clutching the small hairs on the top of Archer's head. In my mind, Moonlight was howling. Archer finished by placing a single affectionate kiss on my thigh as my fingers fell away from him. I was still panting, struggling to regain my breath.

He licked his lips and smiled at me.

Damn, I was never going to be able to look at his mouth the same way again. Not now that I knew what it could do. I could still hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

Archer got onto his feet and handed me my black lace panties.

"You are so f*****g hot when you come Lena," Archer said breathily causing another flood of heat to my centre. That was when I noticed that Archer was straining against his jeans, his arousal evident. He noticed me looking and just raised an eyebrow at me." My face is up here lena," he said with amusement.

"Do you want me to..." I began feeling in part that I should return the favour but also feeling curious and interested in seeing what I could make Archer feel.

Archer smiled and shook his head. "This wasn't meant to be a tit for tat situation Lena." He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You should rest before tonight. It's going to be a long one."

He held both of my hands and helped me slide off the table.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm good. That was... That was good."

Archer chuckled. "You're welcome to stay here of course. I'd probably prefer it."

"No, I'll... I'll go back to Rayns."

He nodded. "Okay. Please look after yourself Lena."

As I walked back to Rayns' I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Our mate has skills, Moonlight commented in my mind.

He does but what about Sebastian? Was that a betrayal to him? I asked her unsure if I should be feeling bad and so feeling bad regardless.

I don't think so, she replied. You were clear with him about your situation which is all you can do. We're still unclaimed as it stands.

I'm going to have to figure this situation out once and for all. It's giving me too much stress, I told her.

Well if Natalia is removed as Luna our position is free again, Moonlight reminded me. She was dying to take her rightful place as Luna I could feel it. But I was still unsure.

But has he done enough Moonlight? He seems genuine but how can we be sure that his fascination with us won't wear off in the way it did with Natalia? I asked her

I don't think I remember him ever looking at Natalia the way he looks at us, Moonlight replied.

I tried to think back in time and remembered that in some way, Archer always seemed partially disinterested in Natalia although he had tolerated her. In fact, he had always seemed aloof. He told me I was the only person that knew about what his father was like and it made me wonder - did anyone really know him? Or did they all just have an idea of who they thought he was, what type of Alpha he was.

I shook my head to clear it as I braced myself to see Rayn. I let out a deep breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. "Rayn, I need to tell you some stuff."

Rayn's eyes were like massive shining orbs as she stared at me. I'd just told her almost everything about Archer and Sebastian. I had even given her an idea of what had just happened without going into the details.

In the end her first response was, "Oh my Goddess, I would be so excited if you became Luna!" Then she paused, "Oh... But Sebastian... I would be so happy for you guys...." She frowned.

"You see my dilemma?" I asked her and she laughed.

"It's a good dilemma to have."

Before we could talk on it much further, I felt a consciousness push against mine and I knew it was Archer. I saw Rayns eyes glaze over and so I knew that she was feeling it too. It was a pack announcement. I let him in.

He explained that an attack was imminent and provided directions on what group of people were to go where. He said that the pack house was being prepared currently with sleeping bags and food. Entertainment would be available for the pups to try and distract them. I was to be part of the visibly weak defence line that was to fall back and lead them into my trap though Archer did not share that bit of information with the wider group. Rayn was to be part of the group that would join us. Sebastian, as a single father, would be in the pack house with his daughter. I trusted him more than anyone to keep her and the other pups safe if a Rogue breached the defences far enough to reach them. He also made an announcement about Natalia at the end. "It saddens me to inform you all that your luna has been found to be traitor to the pack and made an attempt on a pack members life. She is being held in the pack cells at the time. She is not welcome to walk freely through this pack and she will not be joining us in the fight."

It had began raining when we took our positions later that night. We stood in our Wolf forms as we stared into the woods, watching and waiting. The rain would wash away our scents but it would do the same for the rogues. It was coming down so fast and heavy that it was like white noise drowning out a lot of other sounds. Moonlight huffed and shook herself, unhappy to be dripping wet and gaining only minimal shelter from the overhead canopy of leaves. Then we heard mutterings through the telepathic link. There had been sightings. The Rogues were coming.

That's when we saw him. A fairly small brownish red wolf creeping through the woods. He hadn't seen us yet. We crouched low and creeped forward. The ground was wet and soft beneath our paws, our sounds muffled. We became as still as a statue, our muscles tensed in anticipation.

Then... We pounced.

The brownish red wolf was surprised. He hadn't noticed us but he immediately responded to our attack, his hackles raised and teeth bared. We had landed an injury with our claws and I felt certain we could have bested him but then we noticed shadows shifting in the distance. They were coming. Lots of them.

I stuck with the plan I had helped develop and I pulled back.

A number of other wolves had been stationed with me and they did the same. We converged at the wooden bridge and crossed it. The rogues had been hot on our tail but hesitated as we faced them on the bridge.

A low rumble of growls cut through the night. Wolves with shining white teeth bared, backs hunched and hackles raised. They were big and they were intimidating but we didn't waver as we watched them.

We were much smaller in number to the Rogues and this gave them confidence. They began to creep towards us across the bridge.

Once again, we turned to run, directed by Archer to ensure we made it to the other end of the bridge. The instincts of the Rogues took over and pushed them forwards, hot on our tails.

Except.... There was something they didn't know. One thing only myself and a select number of people knew...

Under the bridge, one of our guards stood in his human form. He had doused the bridge in alcohol and other flammable liquids. Then, as our side reached safety and many of the rogues were still on the bridge, they set it on fire.