Stubborn by nature and by what nature had made of him, Ben had never possessed an ounce of subtlety in his body. Not before his changing, when heâd been nothing more than a hot-headed Italian nobleman in the city of Florence who had thrust a sword through the throat of the âfiglio di puttanaâ, the son of a bitch who dared to walk the matchless woman heâd loved down the aisle. That had been over seven hundred years ago now and every night he could still remember the look of love in her eyes mingled with sadness as sheâd watched her groom fall amid a spray of crimson before the high altar. It was his last image of her his world came crashing down. He had ran, escaped the city, slept like a fucking fugitive in a grove of trees. And that very night, heâd been attacked by something dark and terrible full of yellow eyes and teeth and fangs. The change, when it came, was agony beyond description. Bones were forced to knit in ways God had never intended, his skeleton and every muscle and sinew it supported re-fashioning itself into a beast that would hunt and in turn be hunted by mortals who would live and die in fear while he persisted. Isabella had turned to dust, eventually, as all things not cursed like he necessarily do. Her dark hair would have gone grey with age, her lustrous eyes dull and limned by milky cataracts. Fate would rob her of the beauty he recalled but in his eternal mind she was evergreen.
Heâd been a solitary werewolf for much of his accursed existence. Loping over the ocean to America during its early colonization heâd been happiest roaming the breadth of the continent, sleeping under the stars and going sometimes years without meeting a human. Much less another were. But a few years ago heâd stopped off at the Sterling pack, one of the largest and oldest and best equipped for the kind of provisions he needed. These were never more than a few days among others. More than that made him antsy. Then heâd seen her. Isabella. No, not her but someone who was her spitting image. Aurora, the pack leaderâs own daughter. A heart that hadnât beat fast for a woman in a dozen lifetimes pounded in his chest and he knew, at an impulsive, hungry, needful glance: he must have her.Â
It was a compulsion that doubled when he got a taste of the fire of her tongue and the fury of her lithe frame as heâd pinned her to a wall and broken down all her protests with the sheer force of his demanding spirit and the battering ram of his cock. The lass left her mark. He wore her scratches and bites like trophies, displaying them for the rest of the pack to see. None of that ever mattered, only the glimpses of sweet submission when she came for him not because he growled an order into her ear but because she wanted to. Needed to. More than her own goddamned pride and even more than her own status as an alpha. There had been no play for the future of the pack and he hadnât been in it for anything more than a roll in the hay but it wasnât enough to have Aurora once.Â
Ben only knew that every venomous exchange between them led to this, a show-down like they were now sharing in the quiet living room of her cabin. There were a dozen more like them scattered about these thick-wooded hills reserved for their use. The bastard had his own but all he could see and smell and taste on his tongue was Aurora. It was her fault, the door that now hung limp on its hinges and the dark shape of a broad-shouldered man looming over her with blue eyes gone icy, as hard with need as the rest of him. He hated her for having this power, this pull that his independent soul wanted to rail against. Their fights and fucking were a battle for supremacy and though Ben might have the satisfaction of mounting Aurora and taking her in ways that would rip a mere human in two she was the victor if only she knew it. âBetter than me?â he rumbled back, voice like distant thunder thrumming in the back of a barreled chest clad in a serviceable t-shirt dirtied by the woods and soaked through with sweat. Ben stalked forward on powerful legs, closing the distance between them until he could feel the heat of her and smell the scent that drove him wild. âYouâll never get off like you did speared on my cock, pup. You know it. The whole damn pack knows it after hearing you scream my name. Your father knows it. He smelled and saw my conquest. And you know it, too, donât you?â
In a flash he lunged, slamming into Aurora and rocketing them both over to collide with a wooden wall roughly enough to set the cabinâs high rafters shaking. âIf I felt between your legs right now would I find you wet for me, Ari? At the memory of how much it ached when I finally pulled out of you? You remember that feeling, donât you? That void and emptiness. The chill that followed so much heat. If you do ⌠thatâs all the invitation I need to take what is mine,â the rugged werewolf snarled in her face, his stubbled jaws snapping as if they were the black lupine snout his face became after shifting. The line between man and beast was blurred in the haze of arousal but thatâs what attraction at its most primal was, wasnât it? A return to nature. And nature had never been kind to Ben.
The Sterling name was old, very old, tracing back to the first wolves. They had a long history of being a strong, powerful pack, and that hadn't changed over the centuries. Malcolm Sterling was no exception to the rule. He ran the pack with an iron fist, and those who challenged him ended up dead at his feet. He was old, though nobody knew or dared to ask how old. It was irrelevant to him, still healthy, in good shape, and still, even, providing new pups when the mood suited him.
Aurora grew strong, stronger than her sisters before her, gaining her an alpha title amongst the females. She trained alongside her brothers, absolutely insisting upon it as she learned to fight, to defend herself. There was some instinct in her that felt a need never to be helpless, reliant upon being saved. Maybe part of it was seeking her father's approval, his affections, but he had little to offer to the children. He showed up when he was able, when he felt it important, but often tended to the pack. In the past 15 years, he traveled more for work, partly for the sake of the business, partly to aid packs in other locations. Aurora's eldest brother taking over as alpha when their father wasn't around.
In her teen years, the girl had a penchant for trouble, a taste for it radiating through her veins. Her first shift was at 13, and somehow, that seemed to only amplify her rebellious nature. By high school, her father often had to be called to get her out of trouble, even out of jail, ensuring records were expunged, buried, destroyed. The Sterling name had a reputation, and the wild alpha female was beginning to tarnish it. That was the point he began seeking a mate for her. She was still young, and he allowed her to push off the idea until she was 20. Since then, the pair argued regularly over the issue. He was certain that a strong alpha mate would calm his unruly child, even if it wasn't what she desired.
The past two years, Aurora had mulled over the idea. Still, nobody appealed to her, and she hated the idea of being forced into it. Male after male was rejected by the girl, and somewhere along the lines, it created tension in the family, in those closest to the top of the pack. Perhaps that's what sparked it, the first alpha male to put his foot down with her, to tell her to stop being a brat, to push at her. They fought, and she was so close to winning as they battled. In the end, though, he pinned her, fucked her. Even through the building pleasure, she resisted him, fought him, despite knowing it was useless.
Not too long after that, she met Ben. He was newer to their pack, and, truthfully, that was the bulk of the reason she paid him no mind. He held no real status with her. He was insistent though, and clearly caught on to her attitude, maybe even to the knowledge she had been topped. She didn't know for certain. All she knew was that he was in her quarters, her cabin, and that alone was enough to bring about a fight. Aurora felt she had something to prove, as it was, and that only amplified it. Things had escalated quickly, and she put up a good battle, but it ended the same. He'd gotten her pinned, mounting her like some prized steed. That was the end of it for Aurora, the final straw to deflate her alpha status. She felt it, the moment her father made that decision, like some of her strength was gone, some of her power. There was a clear warning to her, in private, that if things didn't change, he'd make her an omega or kick her out completely. Neither option was a good one to the girl.
Standing there now, she sighed heavily, shaking her head at Ben. He was back, not that it surprised her. Though she wanted to deny it, there was something there between them. She just hated to admit that anyone got to her, that anyone was under her skin, pouring through her veins. The words were intended to sting, to poke the proverbial bear, even if she knew it was not wise. Still, she liked it. She liked we he got angry, when he was rough with her. A brow raised, rolling her eyes vaguely, "Yes, you heard me or have you gone deaf? Shouldn't you be gone by now, anyways? Don't tell me, you intend to stick around," she took a small step back as he closed in on her. A laugh escaped, not really mocking, but more the slight scoff of finding the words ridiculous, "Every man things that about himself. Every. Single. One. And you're all generally wrong. You think that your dick isn't replaceable with the right toy? It is," she shoved at his chest, pushing him back from her, "Personal space." Shaking her head, "Don't remind me how it's your fault I'm no longer an alpha. You think words like that get me all hot for you? They don't. They make me think you're a total asshole who should get the fuck out," she snapped at him. Arms crossed over her chest, eyes glaring at him. His movement was sudden, slamming them both against the nearest wall, gasping sharply when he did. There was anger mixed with a newly building arousal. Hands shoved at him as hard as she was able, managing to slip out from between him and the wall. "What I remember if you pinning me down and taking what you wanted. There was no ache or void or chill, just annoyance and anger. You think you're just that good in bed. My ex - now he could make me scream. You,â she huffed, âYouâre just one of those that feels like heâs gotta wave his dick around, trying to show heâs got the biggest one.â
