Claimed by the Campus Hockey Alpha

Episode 4

Tatum

“What you thinking, Ford?” Callum asks, his head tilted to the side.

“Yeah,” Dexter says as he steps closer to me.

Callum and Dexter are brothers, identical twins. The only way you can tell them apart is by their hair coloring. Dexter has sandy blonde hair and Callum has slightly darker hair, almost brown. Both have green eyes; up close you can see the flecks of gold in them. They’re built like Ford, strong, muscular, masculine and have tattoo sleeves which I can’t lie – are sexy.

I can’t breathe as they surround me. All this testosterone so close to me, it’s making me giddy and my heart is racing. But I have to remind myself I do not like hockey players. Jenson has sworn me off them for life. But these four men around me are making me somewhat giddy.

“Do you want to come out on a date with us?” Ford asks, causing my eyes to bug out of my head. Him asking me? Hold on this is some joke, right?

“Are you kidding me? I just broke up with my boyfriend you saw it. Besides, I am not interested in hockey players anymore. You cheat, you lie, you just use women for nothing more than playthings.”

“Look,” Ford says. He is so close my wolf is doing weird things inside me; it’s like she is trying to break out to play with him or something. Not now Lizzie, I tell her.

“You’re not exactly the most popular girl in school,” he says as I try not to make it obvious, I’m inhaling his pine and cinnamon fragrance that is assaulting my senses.

“No s**t, Ford Sherlock. Figured that out all on your own, did you? Of course I’m not. My mother is branded a w***e and was outcast from your father’s pack.”

He moves from one foot to the next looking sheepish and uncomfortable. “He’s not the best father but he is the ruler of the pack. Until he dies and I become Alpha there is nothing I can do. But trust me, Tatum when he does die and I am the Alpha, I will ensure that your mother is allowed back in with her child and her new husband.” He takes a breath and rakes his long fingers through his messy hair.

“I also know your father has organized an arranged marriage for you, to an older man.” That makes me want to heave. It’s true, the man is so old, the same age as my father, he’s like thirty years older than me. I shudder at the thought and often have considered running away. Far away.

His friends move closer, I can feel the intense heat pouring from their bodies, it’s already warm with the sunshine but right now my skin feels as if it is burning up.

“How about you fake date me?” Ford says as my mouth literally hangs open and my jaw drops to the ground.

“Fake date you? Are you out of your tiny mind, Ford?”

“Nope.” He pops the P. “I think it could help you. My Bros here and I would be a package deal and we can hide you in the academy and keep you safe.”

What is he suggesting? “Being popular because you are my girlfriend,” he starts before I interrupt him.

“Your fake girlfriend, Ford.” I place my hands on my hips. I can feel Callum’s chest on my back sending heat through from my core to my chest. Holy hell!

“Fake girlfriend.” He corrects himself. “You will have a certain status in the pack, Tatum. My brothers here and I will take care of you. We will protect you and keep you safe. Nobody will talk down to you. But it’s all four of us or nothing.”

“Are you saying you want me as in a reverse harem situation with you guys?” I am stuttering because this seems totally absurd. However, being popular just for a few months would be fine with me, and not having the s**t flung at me all the time would be nice too. I’d be looked after. Cared for. Protected.

“Wait, what about your father? He won’t like that you are dating fake or not, a commoner like me whose mother is branded a whore.”

He smiles exposing his dimples making my knees go weak. I mean there could be an awful lot worse things than fake dating Ford, right? But a reverse harem, can I do that? It’d be frowned upon. As if reading my mind he says,

“Listen, nobody would know that you are with all four of us. From the outside in, it’d look like you are simply dating me. So, what do you say, Princess?”

What can I say? My ex has just been caught groping my so-called bestie and is threatening to blackmail me with our s*x videos. Maybe this is my temporary solution and it could mean my mother being allowed back in the pack. Four men, me? Wow that is a lot and I’d have called any girl a slut.

“It will be our little secret, Tatum.”

“Your father will still hate it, he kicked my mother out and he has someone else in mind for you, to be your Luna, Ford.”

“Let me worry about that. Now, do we have a deal?” The guys encase me in a circle, heat is pouring off their hot bodies as sweat trickles down my chest between my heaving breasts.

“We have a deal?”