Taken (Sinful Series - book 1)

“For someone so small, you surely manage to stir quite the commotion.”

The leveled masculine voice startled her, wiping away the grogginess from her body. She quickly shot up, back pedaled until the bed frame stopped her, and frantically looked at her surroundings. No matter how far she ran from the stamp on her back, the irony didn’t evade her – she ended up in a bed out of all places. The Fates had a real sick sense of humor.

Her hands fisted on the lousy fabric around her body. It was too thin to provide enough warmth during the winter, but she was thankful she wasn’t naked. It gave her a piece of mind, some sense of control of her new life with Xander’s pack.

Her eyes fell on the man by the foot of the bed. If she considered Xander scary, the broad shouldered man starring down at her was simply terrifying. By any means, Xander was bulky even by Northern’s standards, but the lone wolf in front of her dwarfed him. He was the devil incarnate. Raven black hairs, high cheeks and stern black eyes. Violet immediately knew his wolf had to be the darkest shade of black to match his human complexion.

“We mean you no harm, and do not wish to intrude. A female omega changed you into a fresh set of clothes,” he tried to reassure her without any success. The gesture was kind, but she had learned men were not kind. They gave only when they expected to take.

The ease he spoke about rank meant only one thing – he was a titled wolf, and they were the worst. He was the domineering predator in the room, watching her, his pray. His aura was alluring, demanding all attention. She could not peel her eyes off him, nor could she move, even when he casually walked closer to the bed. Her eyes shifted from his impressive height to the finer details of his clothing, and then finally landed on an insignia ring on his right hand.

An Alpha.

A shiver went down her spine, and she had to suppress the innate urge to immediately escape his presence. He must have noticed her distaste of him, and assumed it as discomfort, so he stepped back, relaxing his stand, outstretching his hands to show he did not mean any harm. If Violet did not know any better, she would have been impressed by the gesture. He wanted to earn her trust, so she’d fall into place in his agenda, whatever that could be.

Violet finally asked, “Xander?”

A malicious growl from the other side of the room, had her twisting in the bed sheets, and eyeing the further corner of the room. The damn Alpha focused her attention for too long for her to finish her initial sweep for any other possible danger. Even after she looked at the source of the growling, she couldn’t make up any features, only a silhouette in the darker background.

“Karim, stand down!” The Alpha commanded with what sounded like a hint of disappointment. The growl died down, and tensed silence settled. The Alpha then sighed and continued with the same leveled voice, allowing the information to register in her head, “You’re in Devil Creek. I’m Alpha Devon Jones.”

A smile tugged at her lips. Xander had kept his promise, bringing her to his home, even if he hadn’t admitted he is pack for the longest time ever.

“He really did it,” she said more to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. A low rumble sounded on her right, but she didn’t care. Xander had succeeded. She was safe. She was free as long as she could convince his Alpha she meant no harm to the pack, “Did something happen to Xander? Where is he?”

Just as the words left her mouth, the rumble transformed into a piercing roar, effectively silencing her next question. ‘Is he all right?’

“You’ll be able to see him… later,” Alpha Devon replied but his eyes were still on Karim, then he focused them on her once again, “We need to talk before your presence successfully shatters my pack.”

She could feel her presence brought him discomfort. She preferred to be on her own, instead of another pack. No matter how much Xander tried to assure her Devil Creek was different, she could not let herself believe again. There was nobody looking out for you in this world. Not even your mate.

“You want me gone.”

Devon Jones silently watched her as she shrugged. The less she saw of Alphas, and entitled asswipes the better, “I’ll go after I see Xander. It’s not like I have to pack.”

The last sentence slipped before she had the chance to reign in her tongue. The Alpha mud was so quick to kick her off his pack. It pissed her off even if she expected and welcomed it. A part of her was sad she had to leave. The optimist in her still had the hope, she could have a normal life.

His dry chuckle brought her attention back at him. The Alpha and Karim were sharing a look that only meant one thing - mindlinking. That was the one thing that a pack was useful for. You could ‘call in’ anyone, anytime. Not that Violet ever used it, but it had brought conform to know it was there.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Karim roared his outrage.

“Karim…” Alpha Devon pointedly cautioned the brute, then turned to her. “Violet, if it is your decision to leave, I would support it, but you must know you’re one of us, either wise my Gamma would have never brought you here. Moreover, it’s not every day that my Beta finds his mate.”

“A who-what now?”

“I’m your mate,” Karim announced flatly as he finally emerged from his dark corner.

Violet recognized the fury in his eyes, and felt the truth to his words. The longer she held his eyes, the more she really saw him. He was hands down mouthwatering hers. There was no other way to describe the attraction to every single feature of him. His dark hair she wished to tussle, stained facial muscles she wished to caress, brown eyes igniting her skin with the intensity they brought, and those thin lips she almost immediately wanted to taste. He was everything she ever wished for and more.

He was livid at the circumstances of their meeting and Violet silently vowed to rectify it. She took a lungful to steady her heart, before they could smell her arousal. As the air went in her lungs, she noticed a flowery which masked the wilderness of his. It was the second reason why she hadn’t noticed him while speaking to the Alpha.

Oh, how she wished it was just a perfume. But life had to punish her somehow for marking another!

She gritted her teeth at the insult; he dared to show his face, while he smelled of another. There was no other way for someone else’s scent to mix and overlay your own. He had slept with another. Repeatedly so, if the potency of the scent was any indication. While the revelation hurt immensely, despite him being nothing but a stranger to her, the anger bubbled inside her. She just couldn’t help but scorn him. Regardless of his past, he should at least had the decency to shower before meeting her.

Karim noticed the change in her, and immediately defended himself, “You marked Xander.”

How dare he put up a tantrum for barely marking someone, when he still carried evidence of his escapade all over him? That was surely not the way to make a good first impression to your fated mate. That was for sure.

“And yet, you came to see your mate, smelling of your skunk,” she bit back, wishing he would deny it.

Alpha Devon scratched the back of his head, obviously uncomfortable with where the conversation was going and tried to excuse himself, “I’ll leave you two.”

“I didn’t mark anybody,” Karim spat at Violet, ignoring his Alpha.

“You would think differently if you were dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, branded like a cattle, and…” Violet started defending herself, then shook her head. No, he did get to turn this on her. She didn’t need to apologize profusely for making another, if he did not see how wrong it was to show up smelling of sex in front of your injured mate. No. She was done. She would not cry.

As she finally steadied herself, as to not break down and cry, she noticed Alpha Devon was frozen in his place. Didn’t he want to leave? Packs this far south only heard stories like hers, and never met face to face with someone who had been through the life Violet lived. It was a cultural shock, even taboo in some packs, while in others it was a daily occurrence.

Violet ignored Karim’s outburst and moved her attention to the speechless Alpha, “Now, Alpha Devon, could I please see Xander?”

“Keep admiring him, and he’ll be a dead Gamma!” Karim promised.

“Go, fvck yourself, Karim,” She flipped him off, then laid it out for him knocking him a peg or two of his high horse, “While you were jerking off, I had to save myself from being forced to be a breeder. So there, you know why I marked Xander.”

Violet took a deep breath to steady her voice. Why his anger at their situation was that upsetting to her, remained unexplainable. He had obviously made the decision to insult her, coming in to see her, reeking of his latest conquest. Before the tears could run down, Violet bit her lower lip, savoring in the pain. She was not going to cry in front of any of them. Neither for her past, nor her present. She would look up to the future.

“We all know you didn’t shower just to hurt me for marking Xander. You succeeded. So Alpha Devon, how about that visit now?”

Alpha Devon only nodded and gestured her to the door. Violet slipped out of the bed and walked behind the Alpha, only be stopped by Karim’s hands that softly placed the blanket over her shoulders, covering her up. The gesture was sweet, and Violet suspected it was more for his wolf’s benefit than hers, but she was going to accept what she got. She nodded her thanks and followed Devon, who kept his cool sitting through a mating dispute. Violet concluded, he sure had the patience of an elephant, if he could put up with Karim as a Beta.

‘My mate,’ Violet thought to herself, ‘Just my luck, he hates my guts.’

“I’ll bring her there,” Karim stated. His strong palm gripped her forearm, sending shivers and tingles down her spine. If she had any doubt of the magnitude of his anger, his fingers showed her his distaste by wrapping too tightly, leaving his hand imprint in the shape of a bruise.

“Brute,” Violet hissed and pulled her hand out of his reach. His eyes immediately focusing on the damage he had caused. Violet held his eyes for longer than appropriate for a wolf of his station. He did not get to play hurt. Their stare down was a clear message to him, she was not going to be the submissive little mate he might have assumed she would be. “Your scent offends me, Karim. Go shower.”

His handsome face changed from regret to shock. Violet guessed that because of his title he wasn’t used to receiving a command from petite brunettes. But even despite his clenched jaw and the rage in his eyes clearly directed at her for talking to him in such a way, she could not tame the butterflies in her stomach. Violet wanted to lick his skin, and to replace the female scent with her own. Her wolf licked her lips in anticipation. She would remember to teach that draggle-tail a lesson and state her rightful claim on him. However, for now she would have to start with adjustment of his attitude.

“Disappointed?” He snarled at her, catching her ogling him.

“Impressed, not that you would care,” She dismissed him.

Honesty was the best defense and a weapon against him. She had no doubt that the mating pull’s mojo would tell him just how appreciative of his broad shoulders she truly was.

“Karim…” Alpha Devon cautioned him, then after what Violet suspected was a few choice words shot through the mindlink, he recovered from the uncomfortable silence “Xander is still resting, but I can certainly bring you to his room.”

“Thank you,” Violet said.

“You’re mine,” Karim growled at her.

Violet couldn’t help hide the smile that was tugging at her lips at his declaration. Karim needed to learn to respect her before she would accept him. Anything other than mutual respect and understanding was simply going to set the wrong tone in their relationship. She wordlessly followed Alpha, glad that fate worked in mysterious ways.