Alpha: A Rough Shifter Romance Read online

  I’d never let myself get distracted by sex.

  This man was different. He seemed like he knew how to make a woman fall to her knees and that scared me, but I was also horrified that it made me wet.

  There was a certain primal intensity in the way he stared at me, almost like he would devour me whole in a fraction of a second, as if he could undo me with a simple twitch of his fingers. Underneath all that though was a certain tenderness as he looked at me. I imagined those big arms enveloping me as he raised my chin and kissed me like I wanted to be kissed. I licked my lips, finding myself unsure of him.

  I shifted back and forth from foot to foot, uncertain of my next move. He didn’t appear to be in any rush to be the first to react either, so the two of us appeared to be in some sort of standoff. I sniffed the air and my tongue watered as his scent carried on the breeze.

  It was masculine and strong, complete and utter perfection.

  Unexpectedly, my core clenched hard, twisting in on itself with pain and unwelcome pleasure. My pussy tightened and I cried out silently in alarm. What the hell was happening to me? I’d never been this aroused in my life simply at the sight of a naked man. I wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Do you feel it, little omega? Do you feel your body answering to your alpha’s call?” he murmured, and I could feel my shoulders rounding forward, almost like my body wanted to submit to him. I froze once I realized what I was doing, horrified at myself.

  I wanted to run. I needed to get out of here.

  I couldn’t do this. I wouldn’t. He wasn’t going to take me as his. I belonged to no one, least of all him.

  I remembered the Taser in my back pocket. I had something to fight with just in case things went badly for me. He would pay if he tried to touch me. I would make sure of it.

  I took one step back and then another.

  “Don’t you run, little omega. You won’t like what happens if you do,” he warned gently.

  I highly doubted I would like it if he caught me at all. As soon as he got close to me, he’d probably take exactly what he wanted and by just how hard his cock was, I could guess that it didn’t involve just a simple handshake. He probably wanted much more than I was willing to give. I had little doubt that he wanted to fuck me.

  I wasn’t going to let him catch me.

  Without hesitation, I started running backwards, pivoted and darted away as quickly as I could. I put everything I had into running down that path, ensuring that I didn’t catch my foot on a wayward root or a loose rock. I bolted like my life depended on it because right now, it very much did.

  I heard him running behind me, his footfalls soft in the brush unlike mine. I didn’t try to hide my escape because it was no longer necessary. I just ran. I didn’t look back either.

  “Keep running, little omega. I’m going to enjoy teaching you a lesson about hierarchy once I inevitably catch you.”

  His voice rang out in my head like a siren and my body reacted on an almost visceral level to its call. My pussy clenched down hard and my nipples pebbled with desire. For a moment, I contemplated letting him catch me just to see what might happen, but I pushed that thought aside almost as quickly as it appeared.

  It was just arousal. I had to stop thinking with my pussy. I had to think with my mind.

  I snarled loudly, voicing my displeasure at his presence in my head.

  “I see you’re a feisty one then. I’m going to enjoy making you break for me. I’m especially going to enjoy the look on your face when I make you scream my name as you come for me too.”

  Fucking cocky bastard.

  I ran harder, giving it all I had. I looked back and I saw him chasing me. He was in his wolf form and my face fell. He was gaining on me far more quickly than I anticipated. I had to do something. Fast. I approached a clearing and when I reached the opposite side, I used a tree trunk to swing around, grabbed the Taser out of my pocket, and rounded back on him. I was ready to fight. If I was going to be taken, I wasn’t going to make it easy on him. Not even in the slightest.

  He stalked closer to me, taking one step at a time until he was a scarcely a few feet away from me. I gritted my teeth as he shifted back into his human form so close to me that I could feel the prickle of magic on my skin. I swallowed heavily and lifted my arms, preparing myself to fire the Taser, all the while trying not to rub my fingers on my tingling flesh.

  It was similar to a gun in shape and form. I curled my fingers around the grip, pressing a single finger against the trigger. I cupped my other hand beneath it, holding it in place just in case there was any kickback. It was simple enough to figure out, but I’d never fired one before, so I believed it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “Don’t come any closer,” I warned.

  “Or else what, my little mate?” he dared me.

  I aimed the Taser downward.

  “Or else you’ll know what it feels like to get a Taser directly to the balls,” I threatened.

  Instead of backing off, he fucking laughed at me.

  I growled back at him. He needed to take me seriously. I was going to make sure he did. I pulled in my core and carefully aimed at him, taking his hard cock and his balls right into my line of sight. He was going to pay for that.

  My pussy clenched hard as I stared at him and I tried to remain as focused as I could, even if his nakedness was both thoroughly distracting and embarrassingly arousing at the same time.

  I was a pretty good shot with a gun. I’d probably be pretty good with this. It wasn’t like I was packing a heavy 9mm bullet in this thing.

  I readied myself. Then he stepped forward toward me and I simply reacted on instinct.

  I pulled that trigger.

  The tiny darts shot forward, arcing until they connected straight into his balls and he grunted with pain. A thin wire remained attached to my gun and when I pulled the trigger a second time, electricity propelled straight into his most sensitive place without a moment’s delay.

  He pitched forward and I was delighted to hear his high-pitched cry of pain as a result. One knee fell to the ground followed by the other as he crumpled in agony, cupping his hands around his balls as a terrible electric current coursed through his body. He’d left me no choice and I didn’t give him any mercy as I flung the gun aside and decided to make my escape right then and there.

  I turned and ran, using his downfall to my advantage. I sprinted hard and fast down the trail, following it until it forked. I took the left-hand path and dashed into the heavily wooded area, feeling twigs slap at my arms and branches snap against my face. I lifted a single arm and blocked their assault, although it still hurt all the same. I put everything into that escape because I needed to.

  I don’t know why, but my heart fell as I ran. I said goodbye to him and in my haste, I hardly noticed as a single tear rolled down my cheek. I ignored it, unsure of what it meant and continued to run until the path started to narrow. After that, the trail abruptly ended.

  Instead of just standing there, I made my way off the trail and into the deeper brush. When I’d gone far enough, I found a tree with a branch about my height that I could reach, and I started to climb.

  I was a really good climber. I’d trained on the walls at my gym for a long time and I’d taken a number of long weekend trips to the country into order to ascend more challenging cliffs and outcroppings. I liked to take pictures at the very top of my climbs and my office back at the university had several of my favorites beautifully framed and hung on my walls. They reminded me of my freedom when I was locked inside my office and reading yet another densely worded grant proposal.

  I finally paused to catch my breath, looking out across the trees and seeing the mountains rising all above us. I’d never climbed out here before and it was astonishingly picturesque to behold. I sat on the branch and pressed my back against the trunk of the tree, dangling my legs to either side. My inner thighs squeezed around the branch and held me securely in place, ensuring I didn’t fall to the ground to
my death. I looked down and figured I was at least twenty to twenty-five feet in the air, which didn’t particularly bother me. In fact, I kind of liked it. It felt safe.

  For a while, all was silent. I allowed myself to relax, carefully stretching sore muscles. Then I heard a growl from down below and I sighed with disappointment. It hadn’t been enough. I didn’t even have to look because instinctually I already knew it was him waiting for me to come to him.

  I did look down though, even though I didn’t want to.

  A strange tremor of fear and relief passed through me at the sight of him.

  He was human once more and still entirely too naked.

  “Omega, although I’m impressed with your feisty nature and the fact that your aim was true to your word, once I catch you, you’re going to have to make it up to me. You’re going to soothe the spot you just tased. And you’re going to be doing it with your tongue,” he warned gently, all while a small smirk curved up at the corners of his lips. He remained calm and that made me fear him all the more. He should be angry and mean, not amused and fascinated by my defiance. It left me feeling unbalanced and uncertain, which turned me on all the same.

  I could feel myself growing wet once more.

  “If you don’t come down, you’re going to regret it very much when I climb up there and get you,” he said, all the while keeping his contemplative and all too composed tone.

  “I won’t do it,” I snarled.

  His upper lip rolled at my challenge and I was suddenly reminded of a feral creature. My pussy tightened with need. I ignored it.

  “You see, little mate, the only thing that’s up to you now is if you’re going to be doing it after a spanking or after a very thorough switching. Then maybe you’ll understand the proper order between me and you,” he warned, and I shivered at his threat. How dare he? He wasn’t going to lay a single hand on me. I wouldn’t allow it.

  “That is never going to happen,” I shot back. Over my fucking dead body.

  He chuckled in amusement. I wanted to think him a rabid creature, a wild beast that answered to no one but himself. I wanted to think he was dangerous and violent, but he was too calm, too level-headed and that was doing very funny things to my insides that I was too ashamed to admit. I licked my lips and closed my eyes, afraid of what that might mean. I didn’t want to understand it, but I was fearful that I would soon.

  “You see, little mate, your place is by my side. It isn’t up to you whether you want to be or not because fate has decreed that you are mine. After this is all over today, you will know what that means very, very thoroughly. See, you fight me, but I am faster, stronger, and I know a great many ways to subdue you and show you that you will only ever be mine. Sometimes those ways will hurt. Sometimes they will bring you pleasure. Most oftentimes though, those ways will bring you both,” he said, and I trembled with fear and arousal.

  I wanted to believe him. I was ashamed that I did.

  “I don’t want this. I didn’t ask for any of this,” I whispered.

  I wanted to hate him. I wanted to run and escape but with every word he uttered, I could feel my body heat with desire. I wanted him badly and I hated myself for it.

  “None of us has asked for our fates, but it is up to us to make the best of it with the paths we are given,” he answered calmly.

  I looked away, ignoring his words.

  “Come down to me, little mate, and your punishment will be less severe,” he said gently. I shook my head. I couldn’t give in. It wasn’t in my nature.

  “No, I won’t do it,” I answered.

  He licked his lips and his eyes darkened considerably. He smiled, but it felt dangerous and it carried with it a sense of ominous foreboding that left me fearfully anxious.

  “That’s alright, little mate. I’m glad you refused because when I do finally catch you, I’m very much going to enjoy switching that beautifully naked bottom of yours. I’m really going to enjoy seeing my mark on your pretty bare skin as I teach you what your rightful place really means,” he threatened.

  I gritted my teeth.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” I exclaimed, staring down at him with open challenge.

  “Oh, I would. I really would,” he answered quietly, his tone menacing.

  He circled the trunk of the tree, all the while keeping his gaze up on me.

  “You see, sometimes a defiant mate needs to be reminded that there is a power structure and a hierarchy between a bonded pair. An omega always answers to her alpha and if she doesn’t, she is thoroughly punished until she learns that she must obey. I’m going to teach you that lesson today,” he continued.

  “Fuck you,” I interrupted, and his face never even remotely twitched in either irritation or rage. It was strangely unnerving.

  “Let me tell you what is going to happen. When I catch you, I’m going to strip you of every single piece of clothing until you are entirely bare before me because I find that feisty little mates are not so feisty once they are completely naked and properly presented for punishment. Then I’m going to take you over my knee and spank your disobedient little backside until you beg me to stop, but I’m not going to. You see, you’re also going to learn today that when a punishment will end is not up to you. It’s up to me and you’re going to be spanked until there are tears dripping down your cheeks because I’m not going to stop until you’re sobbing. Do you think it’ll end there, my omega?”

  “Yes.” I whispered, fearful that it wouldn’t.

  I couldn’t stop the desire from welling inside me. I should hate the fact that he was threatening me with a spanking, a punishment intended for naughty little girls. I’d never been chastised like that before, but right now my pussy was tightening with excitement. I was also soaking wet. I could feel it in the seat of my panties, and I was so ashamed of reacting to him like this. I didn’t want it. It couldn’t be real.

  But it was. It was so very real.

  The more he talked about what was about to happen, the more I began to trust that he wasn’t some rabid monster. Sadistic maybe, but he continued to remain calm. He didn’t appear to be angry or annoyed that I’d used a Taser on him and shot him straight in the balls, which any other man would be rightfully furious and far less put together than he was right now.

  Not him though. This man was very different.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, sweet mate. That’s when the real punishment is going to begin. When I’ve finished your spanking, I’m going to help you up and then you’re going to pick out your very own switch so that I can use it to thoroughly mark your disobedient little bottom until I’m certain that you’ve learned your lesson. I’m going to warn you though, if I’m not pleased with your choice, I will pick a switch myself and I will use it on your defiant naked backside until it breaks and then I’ll give you the chance to choose another one. Does this make you fear me, little mate?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I whispered. My clit was throbbing with intense need and I tried to ignore it despite how aroused I was becoming as he told me what he had planned for me.

  “Good,” he answered.

  It was obvious now that he wasn’t some feral beast out to really hurt me. It didn’t appear like I was in danger of being killed or maimed in any way. Instead, he’d thought through his words and presented me with what he thought was right in his world even though it was not in mine. It felt like I was running out of options and a painful introduction to his ways was becoming more and more likely with every passing moment.

  I was afraid, just like he’d asked, but I was also incredibly aroused. I swallowed, trying to push every ounce of desire away. As much as I tried though, I was fighting a losing battle. Fear pulsed through me, but so did a very intense need to feel his touch. His threat of punishment left me feeling aroused and curious and so very, very wet. It was hard not to touch myself, to not drift my fingers over my breasts or between my legs. It was even becoming difficult to breathe and I found myself panting quietly as the heat simmered within
me.

  I felt hot, unbelievably hot. It was as though a fever had taken a hold of me and the only thing that I wanted to do was to take off my clothes and jump into a cool pool of water in order to chase it away. I licked my lips, unable to tear my eyes away from his cock for a long moment.

  I stared at him from above in the tree, at least twenty feet above him, and his blue eyes met mine. They remained confident, but still remarkably soothing in the same breath.

  “If you don’t come down, or if you do and decide to run, little mate, I will catch you and your naked bottom isn’t going to be the only place that gets switched today,” he warned cautiously.

  I didn’t even want to think about what that might mean. I sat up on the branch that had been my resting place for several seconds longer, while I glowered down at him. Would he really spank me? Did I want to test him? Did I really want to see what would happen if I did?

  I had to decide if I was ready to find out what a spanking felt like.

  I wasn’t naïve enough to think that he wouldn’t climb the tree to come get me if I didn’t climb down. Even if he didn’t, I’d have to come down eventually. I couldn’t sleep up here. It would be far too dangerous because I had no way of securing myself to the tree to keep from falling. It was a long way down and if I did fall, it would ultimately be the end of me.

  I had zero doubts in my mind that he wouldn’t allow that.

  I no longer had any weapons to protect me. I’d dropped the Taser while climbing up to my current perch, but now I was stuck here in a tree and I had nowhere else to go but down to him.

  I looked around me, trying to figure out if there were any other avenues available to me. None of the branches in my reach appeared to be particularly strong. The one I was currently sitting on was probably the thickest and the strongest one at this height. I couldn’t travel along the trees far above him. That escape path was not an option either.

  There was little choice left for me. I had to climb down.