The Alpha's Claim

Cressida

The house. I needed the safety of the house walls.

Glimmer slammed our mental link shut. She went dead silent. She did not do it out of fear this time. She severed our connection so I would not hear her scream. She shut me out so I would not feel her pathetic whimpers of total submission when he arrived. She knew his approach meant inevitable doom. She left me alone in my human mind to face the wrath of the Alpha I had just provoked.

I clawed at the front door like a trapped animal. My blunt human nails scraped against the heavy wood. They were too small, too weak. The door held firm against my frantic pushing. Freezing rain lashed against my bare skin. Thunder rattled my bones. His massive, terrifying roars echoed through the distant trees. Every roar promised blood. Every snarl rang in my ears like a definitive death sentence.

I had no other choice. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced a shift. I had lived in a human body my whole life. I never learned how to rearrange muscle groups or snap bones back into place. I never learned how to turn stubby paws into working fingers. My Omega parents assumed I would be a late bloomer, a weak wolf who would stay in the background. Nobody ever taught me how to survive this kind of raw, agonizing pain.

Fire tore through my forearms. Bone scraped against bone. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming out loud. My right paw contorted. The flesh tore and stretched, molding into a grotesque, clawed hybrid monstrosity. I just needed enough human fingers to work the lock. A thumb formed. An index finger snapped into place with a sickening crack. It was just enough.

I dragged myself onto the porch. I fumbled with the keys. The metal jingled. The sound mocked my impending death. I managed to twist the lock and shoved the door open. I slipped inside and locked it behind me.

Silence filled the hallway. The kitchen clock ticked. Tick. Tock. Each second stretched into eternity. He sounded enraged out there in the storm. He sounded frustrated. My bones ached from the unnatural shift, grounding me in reality. What did I do? Why was I marked for execution? Was I trespassing on his trail? I had no answers. I just knew he was coming.

I dragged my naked body into my bedroom. I crawled into bed and pulled the heavy sheets over my head. I shook. I curled my knees tight to my chest. I felt like a terrified child hiding from the dark. I prayed to the Moon Goddess. I prayed harder than I ever had in my life. I begged her to make him change his mind by the time he tracked me down. Because he would track me down. My blood trailed all the way to this house.

“Cressida?”

My mother’s voice broke through the panic. The bedroom door creaked open.

“Mama,” I whispered. My voice shook with every syllable. I stayed under the covers, ashamed. I was naked, shivering, and hunted.

Footsteps hurried to the side of the bed. The mattress dipped under fresh weight.

“Dear Lady, what happened? I smell blood,” my dad asked. His tone was gentle. His calloused hands pulled the edge of the blanket back just enough to reach my foot. He traced the raw scratches on my toes. I ran barefoot across jagged rocks in the rain. I did not even notice the pain until now.

If my dad could smell the blood, the Alpha tracking me could smell it tenfold.

“Dad, I made the Alpha mad,” I choked out. My teeth chattered. “He is looking for me.”

“He is out there howling for you?” my dad asked. Shock colored his tone. He patted my back through the thick quilt. He tried to console me. He tried to offer some kind of comfort before the storm hit our doorstep. But there was no comfort left in this world. My doom was already walking up to our front porch.

*CRASH.*

The heavy front door splintered. The wood exploded inward with explosive force, as if the house had been hit by a runaway train. The impact rattled the picture frames on the walls.

“OPEN THE DOOR.” The snarled command shook the floorboards.

“Where is she?! Now!”

The authoritative growl vibrated in my chest. Overwhelming dominance rolled through the house in thick waves. He tracked my blood. He found my hiding spot.

My parents scrambled out of my bedroom. They rushed down the narrow hall to intercept him before he tore the house apart.

“KNEEL.”

The single word carried the crushing weight of an Alpha command. I heard my parents’ knees hit the hardwood floor instantly. I heard them whisper his name in pure terror. *Alpha Kaelen.*

I had no escape. Heavy footsteps moved down the hall with menacing intent. Thud. Thud. Thud. Skin slapping against wood. He wore no shoes. He walked on bare feet.

A deep, sinister chuckle rumbled from his broad chest. “I cannot believe I found you.”

He stopped in my doorway.

*Goodbye, Glimmer,* I whispered into the void of my mind. I was certain he was going to rip me to shreds for my perceived challenge in the woods. She gave no response. I squeezed my eyes shut. I waited for him to step forward and end my life.

He took a slow step. Then another. He moved with terrifying purpose, like a confident predator cornering a wounded rabbit. I gripped the bedsheets tighter. The soft fabric held years of safe, warm memories. I anchored myself to them. If I ran now, he would slaughter my parents without a second thought. I had to stay. I had to take the punishment.

“I…” The word died in my throat. What could an Omega say to an enraged Alpha?

He offered no word in answer. He stopped right beside my bed.

“Alpha Kaelen, I am sorry,” I begged. I tried to make my voice sound as submissive and small as possible. “I do not know what I did, but I did not mean to.”

He did not answer. He reached down with his massive hands, grabbed the thick protective sheets, and ripped them away.

Cold air hit my bare skin. I backed up against the headboard. I pulled my knees tight against my chest. I let out a submissive whine. I refused to meet his gaze. I stared straight down at the floor. I stared at his bare, muddy feet.

He stood there in all his raw power. I was painfully aware he was just as naked as I was after his shift. My eyes caught the heavy, imposing weight of his thick cock hanging between his muscular thighs. I swallowed hard and jerked my gaze back to his muddy toes. I feared seeing too much would provoke his lethal wrath. I was naked, exposed, and trapped.

He leaned over. His massive arms slid around my waist and under my knees. He picked me up with effortless strength.

The moment his skin touched mine, his potent scent hit me like a physical blow. Deep woods mixed with pure, intoxicating power. I tasted the raw dominance on my tongue. The scent wrapped around my senses and choked the panic right out of me. I shuddered against his hot skin. His suffocating strength overwhelmed every nerve in my body.

*Mate?* Glimmer asked. Her questioning voice broke her silence.

*He must be,* I replied through our link. *I am not dead yet.*

Kaelen shifted his grip. He pressed my bare chest against his broad, scarred pectoral muscles. He buried his face deep into my frizzy, rain-soaked hair. He inhaled a deep breath. A soft, reverent growl rumbled in his throat and vibrated against my collarbone.

“I meant it when I said I would not hurt you, you know,” he murmured. His surprisingly gentle tone left no room for argument. “I am taking you home.”

He turned and carried me out of the bedroom.

I went limp in his arms. I offered no protest. The suffocating dread melting into my bones morphed into a confusing, heavy submission. He was the Alpha. We were ruled by his word and his unquestionable authority. If he claimed a mate, tradition dictated she leave with him. I never thought anyone would take me, let alone the most terrifying man in the pack.

We walked down the hall and reached the living room. My parents remained kneeling on the shattered wood of the entryway. They were stunned. Their heads bowed low. Their eyes flashed murky silver. They shared rapid mind-links. My mom tilted her head toward my dad, clearly having the final say in their silent argument.

“We will pack her things, Alpha,” my mother spoke aloud. She kept her chin tucked to her chest.

“I will send a Warrior to pick them up,” Kaelen replied. He waved off the comment. He never broke his confident stride. He stepped over the ruined door and carried me out into the cold night air.

The freezing rain had slowed to a drizzle. The suburban street felt suffocating.

I gasped and buried my face into his warm neck. The suburban pack had gathered outside their homes. They stood on their lawns. They peered from their porches. Wide eyes stared at us. Whispers hissed through the damp night air.

I was mortified. I was being carried naked through the streets in full view of my neighbors. The heat of embarrassment burned my cheeks. Kaelen was naked too. The pack watched his massive frame, his exposed, heavy penis, and the way he held a trembling Omega against his chest.

I cowered from their judgment. Kaelen felt my fear.

He pressed me tighter to his boiling hot skin. He wrapped his thick arms around my back and thighs. He used his wide, scarred chest to shield my exposed body from the onlookers. He bared his fangs and unleashed a vicious snarl at a group of nosy teenagers standing near a mailbox.

“You are too small,” Kaelen mumbled under his breath. His lips brushed the top of my ear. “You should eat more.”

I leaned deeper into him. I stayed still. His muscles felt like carved granite beneath my cheek. I felt his dense muscles tense against every stare directed at us. I was terrified of turning his volatile aggression toward me. I prayed he would keep directing his anger at the crowd instead of his new mate.

Heavy, rapid footsteps splashed through the puddles on the asphalt. Someone was rushing straight toward us through the dark.

Kaelen stopped in the middle of the street. His body went rigid. A deep, overpowering growl tore from his throat. The sound shook the puddles at his feet. It vibrated through the earth itself. The sheer force of his dominance forced the breath out of my lungs.

“Avert your eyes and stand down!” Kaelen snarled.

The command slammed into the crowd. Every wolf on the street dropped to their knees and snapped their eyes to the pavement. I found my own body obeying him without question. My shoulders slumped. My chin tucked against his collarbone.

The running footsteps slowed to a stop a few feet away.

“Sigh,” a distinctly disappointed voice replied. “I brought a sheet to cover the Luna.”

I timidly glanced up from Kaelen's chest. A tall, high-ranking man stood casually before us in the amber glow of the streetlight. He matched the Alpha in height and aura. His dark black hair draped past his broad shoulders. His glowing, golden honey eyes stared right at us. He seemed unbothered by Kaelen's murderous intent. Beta Carden held a folded white sheet in his hands, ready to conceal his Alpha's extreme possessiveness from the kneeling pack.