Chapter 3
Thursday morning was a rush, with everything hap-pening at fast-forward pace. Demetri went off to work early. Saphera and Zion quickly finished get-
ting ready, and she dropped him off at the crèche. At work everything moved at a fast pace as well. Celix was out of town for the day, leaving his friends to run the show. They all were very nice with Saphera, and assisted her in every way she asked.
“Where did Celix go?” she dropped the question around lunch time, looking at Zane.
“Some wolf business, he didn’t elaborate. But something to do with dreams.”
“Oh, okay.” Saphera turned around and headed to her office. Strange, she thought, is he struggling with dreams?
She finished at the office a bit earlier, and was happy to get an extra hour with her son this afternoon. She
picked Zion up and took him to the park where they played until 5pm, and then went home. She decided to watch a story on TV whilst Zion played with his building blocks. Demetri came home around 7pm when Saphera finished with the mac and cheese. After dinner Demetri played with Zion and bathed him. Saphera quickly straightened out the kitchen and living room.
“Remember, we have a braai at Celix’s place tomorrow,” Saphera reminded Demetri.
“Yes, I remember. What do we have to take?”
“Just something to drink. He said he’ll provide all the food.”
“Great. Okay. And Zion?”
“Zion is more than welcome, he said,” Saphera answered.
She finished the dishes and took a quick shower while Demetri put Zion to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a weird evening, she thought to herself.
***
Friday Morning, when Saphera woke, she had a strange feeling about her—probably because of the evening plans. She dressed Zion; Demetri had left early. She finished getting herself ready and dropped Zion off, and headed to work. The atmosphere at work was more tense then usual with the house girls cleaning vigorously.
For tonight? she thought.
Celix was also in the house making some modifica-tions in the lounge area. The food from the kitchen was delicious. After lunch Celix popped into her office.
“Afternoon Celix,” Saphera greeted him with a neutral tone to her voice.
“Saphera.”
He came to sit at her desk. He was tense—she could sense it. “What’s wrong?” she asked without thinking twice.
“I will have to go away for a week or two for wolf business upstream.”
“Uhm… okay.” Saphera was not sure how to react. “There’s some trouble with another young Alpha male
trying to challenge my treaty with The Reviera Pack a few miles up north.”
“Okay—that’s just plain dumb,” she said, knowing very well that a young Alpha testing an elder is suicide. She understood the rules and punishments.
“Yes. So you’ll have to hold the fort until I get back. Take charge of everything like I know you can, being an Alpha female.”
His eyes changed to the brightest sapphire ever. “Okay… I guess it shouldn’t be a problem.” Saphera
avoided his eyes.
Celix got up and walked around the desk—Saphera tensed. He stood behind her now, taking hold of her shoulder. It burned where he touched her.
“Thank you,” he said with a little grin. He left her office. In the Hallway he had to catch his breath. The atmos-phere was so tense in her office—but it wasn’t her fault. He wanted her badly and she knew it. She played it safe
by ignoring him and his Alpha scent completely.
She’s going to be a feisty one to bed, he thought.
That’s if I ever get the chance.
He left for the kitchen to settle the evening’s dinner arrangements and drinks.
After work, Saphera left to pick up Zion and Demetri in one trip. At home Demetri took a quick shower whilst Zion bathed. Saphera quickly cleaned the house. After Demetri, Saphera stepped into the shower. She was engaged with her own mind, thinking over what Celix had said about a rivalry that could spell danger, seeing that she was not from either of the packs. Yet she would be part of the battle, if it came to that.
Demetri was dressing Zion when Saphera stepped out. She decided on a loose floral maxi dress, with white pumps. Her hair was loose and curled, giving it more volume. Demetri was dressed in black trousers and a white shirt which hugged his torso. She loved his torso.
***
Celix was trying on his sixth outfit.
“Celix are you done yet?” Josh asked from behind the door. “They will arrive any minute.”
“Almost, I can’t decide what to wear,” he growled. This is her fault, he said to himself. “Okay I’m done.”
At the bottom of the steps, the twins were waiting and talking about the evening ahead. They immediately looked up when Celix came down the stairs. “Wow, dressed to impress the mistress?” Leon snarled.
Celix gave a low growl. “I am not dressing to impress her.” He held his chin in the air and walked past them towards the kitchen, to check on how the food prep was coming.
They arrived on time, Celix noted, knowing Saphera hated to be late. Josh went to the front door to open up. As the three of them stepped in, Celix almost lost his breath when he laid his eyes on her. Her floral dress hugged the length of her body, with that red mane of hers enhancing her eyes.
She caught him staring, and immediately he cleared his throat and welcomed them.
For fuck’s sake, she is beautiful. He noticed his friends also staring.
“Welcome you three,” Josh said. “I hope you brought your appetite!” He showed them through to the living area where they were greeted with a glass of bubbly.
Celix wore a black shirt which clung against his masculine body and brought out his shoulders, and a pair of tan Chinos which stretched around his muscular thighs. Saphera was ashamed of her thoughts, but she could not help but stare. When his eyes met hers, she immediately looked away, blushing. What is wrong with me? she thought.
Zion was entertained by the television, left on the Cartoon Channel for him. He was also joined by Zane and Zander. Josh was in the kitchen busily finishing up with preparing the snacks. Leon worked on getting the fire started. Celix was chatting with Demetri and she was left alone with her thoughts.
How could she think about this Alpha, when she was set to be wed in the next year? Why was his presence having this influence on her—she’d never before had trouble with her thoughts lingering on another male whilst she was already committed to another.
“Saphera,” Demetri called her out of her thoughts and back to reality.
She walked over to him putting her arm around his waist, noticing that Celix was watching her. “Yes love?” “You looked lost in your thoughts over there, every-
thing alright?”
“Yes,” she nodded, kissed him on the check and excused herself to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Saphera offered to help Josh. He was glad to accept.
“How are you holding up?” he asked, seeing that she looked a bit stressed.
“I’m fine. Just slightly worried about this other Riviera Pack. Celix told me about it.”
“Oh yes, the Riviera Pack. Everything was going fine until the young lad became an Alpha. Now he wants to challenge Celix for the right to take the females in the Silver Tongue pack.”
“Wow. Is that guy alright in his head? Does he have any idea what he’s getting himself into? And what is the treaty that he’s challenging?”
“The treaty was between Celix and John, the previous Alpha. It stated that the Females can choose to which pack they want to belong, and with whom they wish to mate. Celix believed that a happy female will be a loyal mate. They both signed this treaty in blood, but now John has passed away. And this young lad wants to have total dominance over the females in his pack, as well as our pack.”
“That sounds like an asshole idea to me,” Saphera said. “Well of course it’s an asswipe idea. But if he finds out there’s an Alpha female of the Mignan Clan here, he will do everything—even bring on war to get this treaty broken. And that’s what Celix is worried about.”
“Yes, I am worried about that, because he will break you and force you to submit to their savage way of life,” Celix said as he walked in.
Saphera looked up. “Well, he has a surprise coming if thinks I will submit to an ass like him,” she said with a growl in her voice.
“He will know that,” Celix nodded. “But he has leverage. Once he learns of your half-blood cub and your mortal mate, he will send out hunters to make them disappear.”
“He will die a gruesome death if he dares to touch Zion and Demetri.” Saphera felt her nails growing at least three inches and her eyes changing from sapphire to blood red Alpha.
“Calm down, Spahera,” Celix demanded, and grabbed her arm.
She was fuming.
“I won’t let him near this town, okay?”
“He better not come here, or I will kill him myself.” Saphera was angered in more ways than one—first out of fear for her loved ones, then Celix trying to protect her when she could damn well take care of herself, and the chance of a war breaking out.
“Here, have some wine,” Josh offered, noticing the tense atmosphere. He’d never seen red Alpha eyes on an Alpha—not even Celix was ever that mad. Saphera was not an Alpha to be messed with, he saw tonight.
Celix left the kitchen and returned to the lounge. Dammit she looked so primal and yet so fucking hot
when her eyes turned, he thought. Her eyes turning red had shown her genuine nature. A true Alpha. His head swam with that image for the rest of the night. There’s no way that young lad will get to her, he thought. If that means I have to kill another Alpha, I will—but Saphera is my prize.
The rest of this evening is going well, Saphera admitted to herself as she watched the twins playing a ball game with little Zion on the grass. Zane and Josh joined in on Celix and Demetri as they chatted about sports, mainly golf as that seemed to be Celix’s thing. Demetri was not so clued up with sports as Celix, but he’d played some rugby and done athletics in his younger years. The four men enjoyed each other’s company, and Saphera was glad—she’d feared this night would be a mistake, but they both seemed to behave well. Her thoughts jumped back to the new thread: the rivalry between the two packs. This could really mean trouble if Celix didn’t play his cards right.
“What are you thinking about?” Demetri interrupted her train of thought.
“Oh nothing, just glad that you’re enjoying the evening,” she smiled and kissed him on the lips. She could taste the whiskey, and smelled his cologne. He smelled so good.
“Demetri, a little hand with the fire?” Zane called, as Celix and Josh had disappeared to the kitchen.
Saphera checked to see if Zion was still okay. He was enjoying the attention of the twins.
She headed back to the kitchen. Just as she suspected, the two were talking about the new Alpha problem. They immediately looked up as she entered.
“Saphera? What are you doing?” Celix said, looking a bit angry.
“I want to know what the plan is. Don’t think that I will just sit back and leave it up to you. I am also an Alpha and my family is just as in much danger as you all are.”
Celix looked cross. But Saphera ignored him and turned to Josh. “So what’s your plan?”
“Saphera, you are not getting involved,” he growled. “You’re not my Alpha, so I will decide whether or not I am getting involved. Got it?” Saphera snapped back with a loud growl, her nails growing. She would not be ordered around by another Alpha who thought he could tame her like he did his previous Betas.
Celix accepted the fact that he would not be able to convince her otherwise, seeing her nails grow and that loud growl made it clear. She was not backing off, nor was she afraid of him. Dammit—and that turned him on.
“Okay you two, please. We will need to work together on this plan or idea. We have an advantage because we have two Alphas now in the fight,” Josh said, looking wary of the two in front of him.
Saphera was quick to anger, and Celix quick to reject help. If these two could just get along we might actually scare the rivalry off, Josh thought. He saw them looking at him, and he cleared his throat. “Well, the idea was to make a house call to this new Alpha and attempt to honour the treaty… or to give him a choice.”
“What choice are we talking about?” Celix asked. “A choice of either living in peace, or one of blood
and tears. Everyone knows our pack is strong and huge in numbers, and besides we have two Alphas in here. This means we will win their trust over more quickly.”
“What do you mean ‘two Alphas’?” Celix looked angry.
“Well, we have Saphera—a female from the most feared pack in all history. And then you from one of the biggest packs. So we have a strong leadership pyramid.” “He has a good point,” Saphera said. “We have a powerful advantage. That is, if we go into this battle together.”
They were interrupted by the cry of baby Zion. Saphera left the kitchen and went to tend to her son. He was hungry, she noticed, and quickly prepared something to eat in the kitchen whilst Celix and Josh were still planning.
After dinner and dessert, Demetri thanked Celix and suggested they do it again sometime.
“Yes, we sure can, no problem.”
They all said goodbye and parted ways.
On the drive home Zion fell asleep in the car, and Saphera covered him with a blanket. Her mind was working overtime with this wolf news and all the prepa-rations and all the possible outcomes. This could mean trouble. Her pack would most definitely come down for the fight and to make sure peace and order was restored, seeing that they were the most feared and honoured pack in all history: The Mignan Pack.
***
At home Saphera scooped Zion up and carried him off to bed. Demetri started on a bath for them both—he sensed she could use it. She was looking very stressed, and he could not understand why. Everything was going okay at her work as he could sense tonight with her boss praising her performance.
Maybe it’s just PMS, he thought. Who knows? Women these days are so difficult to figure out.
Saphera really enjoyed the bath, as Demetri lit candles and poured essential oils into the water for her. She loved it, and she was very particular about her bath routine. Demetri massaged her feet and rubbed her shoulders as she leaned back against him. He really made her feel like a queen sometimes by the way he treated her. As she leaned against him, he kissed her neck softly whilst his left hand wandered downward.
“I love you, Saphera” he whispered in her ear. He slipped his fingers into her most sacred place and started to rhythmically move his fingers in and out, whilst his other hand rubbed her breasts and teased her nipples. Saphera started to moan softly.
“Demetri, I love you, too.” She turned around carefully, not to spill too much water over the bath’s edge, and climbed on him. Gosh she loved how this man made her feel. She kissed him hard and deep whilst riding his erection up and down and using her hip rhythm to adjust so that he could enjoy her to the fullest. He started to moan, grabbing her ass and breast at once with force. She moaned into his mouth. He started to move as well and thrust deep into her, filling her completely. He was rough, she noticed—he wanted her so bad.
“Let us get to the bed now,” Demetri ordered, picking her up whilst they stayed connected. He carried her to the bed and laid her down on her back. They didn’t care about being wet, or dripping water all over the floor. He plunged into her so hard and deep she gasped.
I want her, he told himself in his head. I need her. She felt so warm and soft inside—dammit she was like a drug to him.
“Demetri….”
“Yes?”
“I want your best,” she moaned.
He took this demand as a challenge. He pulled out of her, lowering himself onto her, kissing her passionately and all the way down to her sweet spot, he licked her and used his fingers together with his tongue—a potent combination for her. She arched her back and started to tense. He was really magnificent with his fingers. He noticed her body language and immediately upped his rhythm, more urgent and with more force. She was enjoying this; it made her forget about the troubles ahead, lying here so vulnerable in front of a mortal. He moved back up to her, kissing her passionately and parting her legs wider to give him access to her. He penetrated her deep and hard, every stroke more powerful. His one hand was on her upper leg whilst the other caressed her breast. She sensed that he was building up to climax. His strokes became more intense, wilder. He pulled out and turned her over with force to take her from behind. He plunged into her and this made her gasp—this position was more intense for both of them. He was fucking her, not making love to her. He grabbed her one breast and pulled her close to him as he slammed into her with all his force and might and repeated until he came. He completed with two final strokes. She was relieved, but not released completely. Her body knew she was not satisfied, but that was okay. She’d make a trip to the bathroom later.
“That was amazing,” Demetri exclaimed in her ear as they both laid down.
“Yes, that was great,” she said and kissed him—even though she knew a mortal would never be able to completely satisfy her. This was one con of not dating her own kind.
As they fell asleep later, the dreams came again. Celix on top of her, kissing her and dominating her like she never knew was possible.
“Celix, is this how it feels every time you make love to another wolf?”
“No Saphera, this is how it feels when two Alphas make love.”
He howled and slammed into her and she took him in so easy, and yet everything was electrifying. She came and howled as she released, joined by his satisfying growl in her ear as he dominated her.
Saphera woke up wet and sweaty. Man that felt intense, she thought to herself as she sat up in bed. She decided to go get a glass of water to try cool down. It had felt so real. She stood in the kitchen for a few minutes, and wondered what it would feel like to really be dominated by her own kind—an Alpha like Celix.
She went back to bed with a feeling of satisfaction.
She fell asleep quickly.