The Alphas & The Heiress

Syble (Magnolia)

I’ve never really understood people who enjoy shopping aimlessly for hours. Not that I’m not enjoying myself, but I can’t see myself doing this on a regular basis. When I need something, I go to the store and buy it. I don’t need to go from store to store. It’s an extremely inefficient way to spend the day.

However inefficient it may be, Kat and I have managed to find not only outfits for her party tomorrow, but shoes, accessories, several casual outfits, and a few bathing suits as well.

We’ve been at it for almost three hours now so we decided to break for lunch at the food court.

“So, Kat, birthday tomorrow… you excited?” I sip happily on my smoothie.

“Yeah, for the most part.” Kat smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

My head tilts to the side, “what’s the other part?”

She shakes her head, groans upwardly at the ceiling, and laughs to herself. “Nothing really, it’s stupid.”

“Oh no you don’t, come on, spill it, what’s on your mind?”

She smiles and rolls her eyes at my persistence. “It’s nothing, it’s just some guy I met recently.”

I gesture with my hand for her to keep going.

“What’s there to say? I’m pretty sure he’s the one but I’m also pretty sure he’s with someone else.”

“Who is this chick? I’ll get rid of her,” I whisper conspiratorially to Kat.

She bursts out laughing, one hand over her mouth the other waving at me to stop my line of thinking.

“Okay but seriously, this guy, will he be at your party tomorrow?”

She nods mid chew.

“Well then there you go, I’ll distract his date and you can pull him aside and tell him how you feel.”

“Oh Syble… if only it were that easy.” She sighs.

“It is that easy. Plus you’re the birthday girl and you have two ferocious big brothers, he literally can’t say no.”

“Speaking of which, come on, there’s one last store we need to go to.”

I groan inwardly. Just when I think we’re going to finally head back to the car she wants to pull me into another store.

We clean up our table and make our way over to the store. I’m soon standing at the threshold of a very pink, very intimate store.

“I don’t think they sell dresses here Kat.” I tease her as I look at the sea of lingerie before me.

“Astute observation, they sell what goes under the dress.” She wiggles her brows and winks at me.

Runidar has flushed a shade of pink matching one of the model’s lingerie. “I’ll just wait out here for you, but please be quick.” He says to us.

I follow Kat as she browses through the store, picking up various items and throwing them into her basket as she goes.

“Syble, your basket is completely empty.” She admonishes me.

“I’m not sure your brothers will appreciate us misusing their money by buying lingerie.” I tease her.

An impish grin spreads across her face. “They can afford it, plus imagine their faces if you showed up to the lake in this instead of a bikini.” She holds up a black lace bra and tiny matching panties with a ribbon tied in a bow on the back.

My face flushes as heat spreads throughout my body from equal parts embarrassment and desire to do exactly that.

“Just something to think about.” She says cheerily, grinning at me knowingly.

How is this not weird for her – to be encouraging me to wear a thong in front of her brothers? Would I like to wear that for them, and have them take it off of me with their teeth? Yes. Do I want their little sister to know? Absolutely not. Plus, I don’t make a habit of throwing myself at guys. If they want me then they need to come to me, not the other way around.

— — —

Varian

Syble and Kat have been gone most of the day, but Runidar has been sending us text updates so we know that she’s safe, and, from what I can tell, enjoying her time with Kat.

With Incandis taking over the women’s group and Ash and Jace, our delta and gamma, taking over the men’s groups, Ro and I have been very productive getting our piles of paperwork sorted and reconciled.

With our day winding down, we and our wolves are becoming increasingly restless for Syble’s return. Every minute together, every touch, strengthens our bond a little more. We had hoped to bring her to the lake today and lay our cards on the table to see where she stands. Now we’re stuck postponing for tomorrow, another day for the agonizing anticipation to grow, in addition to waiting for her to simply return after being gone all day.

Our torment is abated when Runidar links us.

Alphas, we’re on the road. Kat wants to stop for coffee and then we’ll head home.

No, come directly home. Tell Kat she can make her own coffee here. I hear Ro respond through the link.

Very good, sir.

Ro looks at me and we both breathe a collective sigh of relief. She’s coming home.

“What should we do tonight?” I ask him. I begin pacing the window, unable to curtail the rush of excitement at her imminent arrival home.

He grins wickedly, “we could ask her to model her purchases.”

“I think I’d rather she modeled naked.” I half mutter to myself but I know he can hear me.

“Talking about me, Alphas? Missing me at last?”

Ro and I look up immediately, our heads snapping towards the source of the voice. Fucking hell.

“Serena, what the fuck are you doing in our office?” I ask exasperated at the mere sight of her. Ro’s face contorts and I can feel his simultaneous regret, disgust, and anger.

Serena was a one time mistake of Ro’s. To be fair, neither of us is innocent. When we thought we were better off mateless there was no real reason for us not to indulge. But Ro’s mistake was giving in to someone in our pack, someone power hungry like Serena.

She tries her best to look innocent but instead she looks nauseatingly desperate. “I was simply passing by when I heard you guys talking about wanting to see me naked.” She licks her overly rouged lips and folds her arms in an attempt to push out her breasts.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but we weren’t talking about you. Now get the fuck out of my sight.” He growls out, teetering on the margins of his control.

“You don’t have to lie to me, Alpha. I know you have needs, I know you liked how I satisfied those needs.” She affirms, stalking slowly over to Ro’s desk in a desperate and embarrassing attempt to appear a seductress.

There’s a sudden bustle of activity in the hallway. Doors opening and closing, voices calling out, footsteps, the smell of roses and lemongrass, the smell of her.

Fucking hell.

Ro get her the fuck out of here, now! I beseech him. I don’t want our chances with our mate blown thanks to the likes of Serena.

Too late.

Syble follows Kat into our office, bags hanging off both of their arms. They both immediately assess the room, scanning from my guilty, panicked expression to where Serena is dragging her claws up Ro’s chest, sitting her hands on his shoulders as she stands upright to appraise them.

Ro spins in his chair and stands up to put distance between himself and Serena, all the while never letting his eyes leave Syble’s face as if to say “see? We only have eyes for you.”

We wait. Seconds. Minutes. Waiting for her reaction, waiting for an opening to explain.

Finally, Syble smiles and extends her hand out to Serena.

“I don’t believe we’ve met, I’m syble.”

Serena smiles arrogantly and shakes Syble’s hand. Immediately Serena hisses and withdraws her hand from Syble’s grasp.

“Sorry,” Syble apologizes with saccharine sweetness, “I don’t know my own strength – or heat, for that matter. Dragon thing, you understand.”

Syble’s smile doesn’t falter and Serena withers under Syble’s intense heat, clutching her injured hand to her chest. Syble doesn’t have to say anything else. Serena leaves the room in haste, not sparing a backwards glance at any of us, her tail between her legs.

Goddess give me strength. Fucking spitfire. I’m tempted to bend her over the desk here on the spot. She’s fierce as always, never backing down, never intimidated.

But it’s the slow, deliberate eyebrow she raises at us after Serena has left that nearly sends me to my knees.

She doesn’t show it outwardly, but from our budding bond I can sense her embarrassment, the betrayal.

“Kat, leave us please.” Ro says, his voice hushed and anxious.

You know this doesn’t look good, right? Like really fucking not good. She chastises us through mindlink.

When Ro doesn’t respond Kat rolls her eyes, “Syb, I’m going to head upstairs. You want me to bring your things up for you?”

“That’s alright, Kat, I can manage, but thanks.” She says.

Kat leaves, flipping us off as she shuts the door behind her.

“Sorry –” Ro and Syble both say at the same time before stopping to let the other continue.

“I just meant to say sorry for interrupting.” Syble says neutrally, calmly, but her racing heartbeat betrays her.

“You need never apologize, spitfire. I’m sorry you had to witness all that. Cliche as this may sound, that really wasn’t what it looked like.” Ro explains.

“You sound rather preoccupied with how that looked to me. It’s not my business.” She says, her words lacking conviction towards the end.

“Is that why you burned her? Because it’s not your business?” Ro taunts her.

Syble grins at his words. There’s my spitfire. “I’m not intimidated by your playthings.”

“She’s more a parasite than a plaything, and she’s certainly not ours.” Ro says with darkening eyes. “Now, I don’t want us wasting any more breath on her. I’m more interested in hearing about your day.” He finishes by lifting her hand and placing a single kiss on the back of her knuckles.

Syble gives him a rare shy smile, “I had a fine time but I actually have something I need to do, something I’ve been working on. Can we catch up tomorrow?”

Ro nods his head softly, reluctant to let her go. “Tomorrow.” He says, resigned.

Syble beams at him. “Tomorrow.” She says it like a promise.

Tomorrow. She’ll be ours.