Alpha Loren

ELLA

OCTOBER 11

I woke up the next morning with the blazing sun shining through the window, flooding the room with bright light.

A gentle breeze blew outside, rustling the tree branches, but the room was perfectly still. In daylight, I took a moment to examine it.

Everything was neat, like being in a hotel. And that’s how it felt. Like I was here for a vacation.

But then I remembered the arm wrapped around my waist, holding me against a steel machine of a man. I couldn’t simply check out of here, that’s for sure.

I glanced over at the alarm clock by the bed.

10:30 a.m.

Leonardo was still asleep. This was my chance.

“Don’t even think about it,” he grumbled, the second I placed my hand on his to pry myself free.

I sighed. “But I need a wee.”

“For sure.” He let out a low grumble before pulling me closer to his chest, his hand ending up on my thigh.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” I said, moving his hand up.

He immediately moved it back. “I’m touching what’s mine.”

He touched me lightly; his fingers tickled my bare skin and made me bite my lip.

He let out a chuckle, followed by a sigh as he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck.

My wolf was in hysterics. She hadn’t been this happy in years. She adored his warmth and the way he held us so securely, and I felt her purr and jump in excitement.

But the human side of me couldn’t be less aligned.

Mate-bond aside, I knew who this man really was.

“The only thing my leg belongs to is me. I don’t see you using it to walk every single day!”

With that, I shoved his chest hard, wriggled out of his arms, and sat up, being sure to give him my best scowl.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Ella?” he asked.

“Wrong with me? We’ve already had this conversation.”

“Yet, I still don’t have the answer. Why the hell don’t you listen to your wolf?”

“I can make my own decisions,” I said. “I don’t need her input.”

He scoffed. “You talk like she isn’t part of you. Half of you.”

“I don’t see it that way,” I replied. “She’s weak and pathetic; I am not.”

He paused for a second. “Do you know what I think, Ella?”

I said nothing.

“Your wolf wants you to follow her instinct to be with me, but your human side is too stubborn and spiteful to let her.”

“I know what is best for us. I know who you are and what you have done and how you have treated us in the last eight hours and how much I want nothing to do with you.

“She is just a horny wolf controlled by nothing but instinct. I’d be better off without her, and I’d certainly be better off without you.”

A grin tugged at his lips. “So, there is something in there, even if you don’t believe it’s part of you, that’s horny for me?”

I shook my head in disbelief. He’d totally missed the point.

He wrapped his arms around my waist again and rested his head on my shoulder. “Kiss me,” he whispered in my ear. “Maybe you’ll realize how right your wolf is.”

I swallowed. “I don’t even know you, Leonardo.”

He let out a short laugh. “So?”

My eyes widened as his lips drew closer. I grabbed the pillow from beside me and forced it between us, creating a safe blockade. “No,” I snapped.

“Don’t you dare.” He laughed to himself before untangling me from his arms and rolling onto his back. “I thought you needed to go to the bathroom?” He held a handsome smirk after I didn’t move.

With that, I slithered off the bed and into the bathroom, where I slunk to the floor.

His advances were unwelcome, there was no doubt about that. But why was I so flustered at the concept of kissing him? Why did I wish he hadn’t let me stop him?

After a few minutes, I concluded it was unfair of him to put me in this situation, and therefore, it wasn’t my fault.

I allowed myself to have one more cringe at my life before getting up, putting on my I’m-a-mature-adult face, and opening the door.

The first view I saw was Leonardo—shirtless Leonardo—by the window where the morning sun shone its golden rays across his abs.

I slammed the bathroom door again and took my designated seat for the day.

“You can’t stay in there forever, Ella,” he said through the door after twenty minutes.

“I can. There’s water, a toilet… I can eat the toothpaste if it comes to it,” I replied.

“You’re fighting a pointless battle.”

“If I come out, will you try to kiss me again?”

“Struggling to ignore your wolf isn’t so easy now, is it?”

“Leonardo, will you try to kiss me again?” I repeated.

There was a pause.

“No,” he said in the most unconvincing tone possible.

“At least try to sound believable,” I replied. “I’m staying in here.”

“You have thirty seconds before I break this door down.”

Okay, that I could believe.

I stood up and unlocked the door, refusing to make eye contact. “Don’t even look at me,” I said, walking past him. “And don’t come any closer.”

“So, we’re just going to coexist today?”

“Precisely. I’m glad you’re finally understanding.”

He took my hand and pulled me back. “I’m not satisfied with that, sweetheart. I want more than a lodger in this house.”

I leaned back away from him as he wound his hands around my waist. But there was no escaping him. He could do anything, and I couldn’t stop him.

“Let me be honest with you, Ella,” he began, his voice mellow. “I will not make you do anything you don’t want. But I am not afraid to make you want it.”

He brought his thumb to my lips once again, radiating warmth through me. Imagine how blissful his lips on mine would be.

“But there’s plenty of time for this later,” he said, taking his hands off me, leaving my mouth watering. “For now, we will have breakfast…unless you want to cut to the chase and fuck this second?”

I swallowed. “Breakfast.”

He smiled and pinched my cheek. “I’ll see you down there.”

When I got downstairs, a man sat in the kitchen.

“Leonardo, who’s the guy?” I asked as he appeared in the kitchen.

The man offered what may have been a smile, but it was hard to tell.

His eyes were green and bright and his hair a chocolate brown, but that’s about all there was to say. He gave little away.

“Ella, this is Blair, my beta,” Leonardo said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Blair, this is Ella. My mate.”

Blair stood up, revealing his incredible height, and approached me. I leaned back, out of his shadow, but he just held his hand out.

Oh.

I shook it.

His features were softer than they first appeared and friendlier than Leonardo’s (by a long shot).

“Buongiorno, Ella,” he said.

“What does that mean?” I whispered to Leonardo.

“She doesn’t speak Italian, Blair.”

“Why would I—?”

“Apologies,” he said, examining me. “I assumed because of your—”

“Blair,” Leo interjected.

After a glance at his alpha, Blair shut his mouth.

I was about to ask what the hell was going on, but Leonardo beat me to it.

“Where’s Luca?” he asked.

Blair looked at his watch. “He should be here. I told him to come at nine a.m. to ensure he was here by eleven, but here we are.”

I had no idea who this Luca was, but he sounded like my sort of person.

A few moments later, the front door opened.

“You’re late,” Leonardo said in a deep tone.

A tall, boyish man entered the kitchen.

With flustered cheeks, he peeled off his sweater and leaned against the door frame, dramatically panting and wiping his brow with the back of his hand like a shocked fifties film star.

“I’m sorry, Alpha, I lost my car keys and I couldn’t find them anywhere until I looked in the fridge.

“And they were on the shelf which, come to think of it, explains why there was hot sauce in my jacket pocket, and then I spilled milk on my—”

He stopped when he set his blue eyes on me, stood up straight, and stared.

“I don’t give a shit why you’re late. Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Leonardo said.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he said, waving his hand. “Who’s the pretty lady?”

“Ella,” Leonardo said, wrapping an arm around my waist. “My mate.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Alpha. She’s not pretty. I mean, she is, but it’s just an observation. I’m not saying that I’d ever even dream of acting on it, and I—”

“Luca,” Leonardo snapped.

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Shut up.”

I smiled, and Luca held out a hand to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Ella.”

He was far friendlier than Blair and didn’t have an ounce of intimidation about him. I smiled, and he smiled back.

“What’s it like having to have Leo as a mate?” he asked.

“Watch it, Luca,” Leonardo said.

He flashed his eyes at me and rolled them as Leonardo looked away.

I giggled, which only caused his lips to curl into a wide smile.

“Ella, this is Luca, my gamma,” Leonardo said.

“Has our alpha not gotten you any clothes yet?” he teased.

I looked down at my bare legs. Oh, right, I forgot to put pants on.

I gritted my teeth. Well, this is awkward.

Leonardo shot him a glare, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on Luca.

“Borrow anything of mine,” Leonardo said to me. “I want you to cover up.”

I looked up.

The t-shirt was long and reached my mid-thigh. Yes, I only had panties on underneath, but it wasn’t a tremendous problem.

“I want you to cover up.”

There are so many ways he could have phrased it that wouldn’t have made him sound like an ass and trigger the part of me wanting to fight every single little thing he said.

But as he towered over me with Blair and Luca at his side, I said nothing.

“We will go shopping when I have time, but for now, Blair and I have to go out and…do something. Luca will stay with you.”

Luca’s face lit up into a mischievous grin.

“While they fuck,” he whispered to me. “Alpha Loren’s biggest secret.”

I let out an abrupt laugh before covering my mouth and trying to control myself.

“Luca,” Leonardo scolded, smacking the back of his head.

He then turned to me. “You’ll be safe with him, but if he annoys you too much, you have your alpha’s full permission to slap him.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You aren’t my alpha.”

Silence descended. Both Luca and Blair nervously glanced up at Leonardo, waiting for him to react.

“Blair, let’s go,” he said, his eyes fixated on me. “Luca, don’t fuck up. I’m in a bad mood now.” He turned and left, Blair following him and closing the door behind them.

“Well…,” Luca said, “that was interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“No one talks back to the alpha like that,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone disrespect him and get away with it.”

“As I said, he’s not my alpha. I’m not following his rules.”

“So does that mean you won’t cover up those scandalous legs, you whore?” Luca said. “How dare you even consider showing me your knees?”

I smiled and rolled my eyes. “I will, but only because I want to. This house is cold and bare legs are not a vibe. I’ll be right back.”

I went upstairs, where it quickly became clear that nothing in Leonardo’s closet would even consider fitting me.

His jeans were all as long as my entire body, his shorts drowned me, and his sweatpants bunched around my ankles in masses of thick fabric.

I sighed before glancing around the room for another option. A drawer was slightly open. I approached it and pulled on the handle, revealing his boxers.

I paused for a moment, wide-eyed, before taking a pair out.

Elastic waist? Check. Comfy fabric? Check.

And compared to him, I was tiny. They would be like shorts on me.

Perfect.

I changed and headed back downstairs in my new fit.

Luca had to contain his laughter as I did a catwalk. My legs were still bare, but I could sit sprawled out on the sofa without revealing my ass, which was enough for me.

“So, what do you wanna do?” Luca asked me.

“Go home,” I replied without hesitation.

“I’m not suicidal,” Luca said. “We could sit and watch the stock market?” he asked with a shrug.

I tucked my chin into my neck and looked at him with concern. He wasn’t joking. “Why would we—?”

“Or we could play on the Xbox,” he interrupted.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“GTA or ~Call of Duty~?”

“Um,” I mumbled, trying to remember what Connor and his friends were always playing.

He laughed. “GTA it is.”

We played for at least three hours, and Luca won every time. What a surprise.

“You are the worst person I’ve ever played against in the history of my life.”

“I’m waiting for the right moment to pounce, then you won’t be laughing.”

“When will that moment come, little miss feisty-pants?” he asked.

“When you are least expecting it.”

Just as Luca was performing his victory dance for the seventeenth time, my stomach erupted with the ghastliest impression of a whale.

“Does the alpha not feed you either?” Luca asked.

“No, all he’s done is treat me like a piece of shit.”

“He has no idea how to treat a lady,” he said, opening the fridge. “Oh, but he has sushi.”

A few minutes later, Luca and I sat at the table eating the sushi we had stolen from Leonardo’s fridge.

I watched as Luca picked up his chopsticks, expecting him to put one in each hand.

But he didn’t.

Instead, with one on his left and one on his right, he tried to pick up a piece of sushi.

“That’s not how you use chopsticks.”

He looked up. “Huh?”

“You’re doing it wrong.”

“There’s a way?” he asked.

“Yeah, and that’s not it,” I replied, taking them out of his hands. “Hold it like this.” I demonstrated, and he watched in wonder as if I had revealed the secret to the universe. “Try it.”

He picked up another piece of sushi, this time with marginally less struggle.

“You’ll get there,” I said. “One day.”

The doorbell rang. Luca and I glanced over before he stood up.

“It’s probably best if you stay here,” he said, flicking a grain of rice off his shirt. “Leo hasn’t claimed you yet and he wouldn’t want you answering the door.”

I frowned. “Claimed me?”

“You know... marked and mated,” he said.

“And when will he do that?”

Luca shrugged. “Surprised he hasn’t already, to be honest.”

My eyes were on the floor, my stomach sinking. I didn’t want anyone to claim me, especially not him.

“Ella, are you okay?” Luca asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, trying to act casual by leaning against the table and scratching my head. “Why?”

He gave me a cheeky grin, mimicking my “natural” posture of leaning on the doorframe of the kitchen.

“Luca, get the door.”

The knocker had been waiting a while.

“Oh yeah, I’ll do that,” he said, standing upright and rummaging around in his pocket.

A few moments later, he withdrew a key. My eyes glistened at the shiny object, and Luca opened the door.

It was Connor.

I raced down the hall and around Luca, straight into my brother’s arms.

“How did you find me?” I asked, but before he could answer, Luca had dragged me behind him.

“Who the fuck are you?” Luca asked.

“Who the fuck are you?” Connor replied.

“Luca, it’s fine, he’s my brother,” I said, attempting to wiggle around him.

But he grabbed my arm and pulled me back once again. “Do you have the alpha’s permission to be in his territory?”

“I don’t need permission to see my little sister,” Connor snapped. “And I’m not here to cause trouble.

“But shockingly, when she didn’t come home last night, I was worried, especially when one of Alpha Leonardo Loren’s men showed up telling me she was with him. So, I had to check on her.”

“Well, there you go. You’ve checked. She’s fine. Now you can leave,” Luca said. “Trust me, you do not want the alpha to find you here.”

“Can I not even speak with my sister for five-fucking-minutes?” Connor asked.

“You have five-fucking-seconds,” Luca replied, stepping aside.

I gave my brother a small smile before he sighed. “Ella, what the fuck? You’re his mate? Please, tell me this is a dream.”

“He found me in the woods last night and brought me here. I wanted to call, but…”

His face sank about three miles. “He wouldn’t let you?”

I shook my head. “He won’t let me do much. I can’t live like this, Connor.”

“Has he... hurt you?”

“Not really.”

“What do you mean, ‘not really’?” he asked, stepping forward. “Are you in danger?”

I swallowed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t even known him for twelve hours yet.”

Connor balled his fists. “And when will he be back here? I’m staying to speak to him.”

“No,” I said, “that’s not a good idea. He’s a dangerous man. You know that.”

“I don’t give a shit, Ella. I’m not leaving you here with these random men. Anything could happen.”

“Okay, time to go,” Luca announced, placing his hand on Connor’s shoulder and shoving him off the porch.

Connor refused to budge. “I said I’m not leaving her here.”

“She’s in safe hands,” Luca reassured before pushing him further down the drive.

Luca was far bigger than my brother and easily dragged him, despite Connor’s protests.

“Ella, I promise you I will not give up,” Connor said. “I will find a way to get you home.”

“You will find a way to get yourself killed,” Luca hissed. “She is Alpha Loren’s mate now. And you do not want to fuck with him.”

Connor sighed. “At least let me ask her how to turn the oven on.”

That put a smile on my face. Typical Connor.

“I’m sure you can use your initiative and work it out,” Luca grumbled, his sense of humor creeping back into his voice.

“Abi and Charlotte will show you!”

“And where do you keep the washing powder?” he shouted back at me, still being manhandled by Luca.

“UNDER THE SINK!” I screamed as he got further away.

When they reached the woods, they were soon out of sight. Connor was now cooperating, but Luca probably still wanted to escort him to the border.

It dawned on me I was free. The door was wide open, with no one to stop me from leaving.

Without a second thought, I sprinted down the drive. I had no shoes on, and the forest floor pricked my feet, but that would not stop me from using the chance to escape.

But after a mere two minutes, footsteps pounded behind me.

When I glanced back, Leonardo was behind me. His legs were impossibly long, and he ran faster than I’d ever seen anyone run before.

Trying to out-sprint him was futile, so I turned and put my hands up, hoping to stop him before he seized me with his powerful arms.

But we collided hard, and he knocked me to the floor.

After seeing the fury in his eyes, I instantly regretted ever leaving the house.