“It isn’t like that.”
“He kissed you on the dancefloor, Aria. He was adding his scent to you when Fallon called him over and demanded as alpha that he stay away from you. It wasn’t by his choice he left you there. Dimitri found you the moment he’d removed the alpha’s head. He had planned to fuck you, and he was denied in a big way. I assure you, as a wolf, we don’t enjoy losing a mark. If he craved you, it hasn’t lessened yet, and it won’t until he has you beneath him. My suggestion? Don’t get beneath him, because he intends to claim you and whatever you are. I don’t think you can be claimed by one of our kind. I don’t want to deal with another king being crowned in this lifetime. I miss sleep, do try not to kill him.”
“That can’t happen, and I miss sleep too.” I left Aine standing on the balcony to head downstairs to meet Dimitri.
Stepping through the door, I made my way to where he stood, tracking me, watching the sway of my hips in the thin camisole top and tight boy-cut shorts I wore. I stopped in front of him, sucking my lip between my teeth as I noted the dilatation of his pupils. The pheromones he exuded slammed against my senses, but the stale stench of women did as well, and I recoiled physically. He smelled of sex with multiple partners; their scent still clung to him, which caused me to pause and step back further.
“You enjoy the show?”
“I was watching the women exiting the house in curiosity.” I folded my arms over my chest and studied the way he walked impatiently in front of me.
“I imagined she was you on your knees, and then I smelled you, and there you were, watching me fuck her mouth.”
“Ahh, well,” I stammered. “That is…blunt and not awkward at all, Dimitri,” I muttered uneasily, staring at the way he prowled. There was also the way his pupils were fully dilated. It wasn’t a normal gaze; it was that of a predator, staring down something it wanted to devour.
“You don’t play with words, so why the fuck should I?”
“Listen…” I started, but he grabbed me, pulling me against his body.
“No. You listen, Aria. I have thought of nothing else but you since I kissed you. As alpha, my duty is to my pack, yet I forbid any of them from hunting you down to claim you. You are what we call a trophy bitch. You’re an alpha female with the capabilities to take down another alpha, which causes us excitement at the idea of claiming you and fighting you for your submission. The moment I gave that order, I slaughtered three alphas who argued it. I fucked every one of those females, and you were the woman I wished I was inside of the entire time. I crave you,” he growled, brushing his mouth against mine as I turned my head to deflect the kiss.
I shoved him away and rattled in warning as anger spiked through me. I stepped back into the protective barrier, and he watched me silently as his nostrils flared with rage. He began pacing in front of me, clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared me down.
“Stop this shit—and you fucked them thinking about me? How fucking flattering. Go home, Dimitri.”
“I am the alpha!”
“You’re not my alpha!” I watched as he stopped, staring at me as his nostrils flared with his anger. “You don’t own me, and I won’t be one of your whores, Dimitri. I am worth more than that. You chose to claim the kill; you chose to become the alpha, fucking deal with it. You don’t get to have me because you demand it. I’m not one of your fucking bitches that you can mount at will, remember that because it might save your fucking life.”
“No, I am not your alpha yet. You reek of Knox. You let that monstrous beast fuck you, and yet you won’t allow me to even kiss you? I can smell his claiming scent over every part of you, even those pretty red lips, Aria. He’s tasted every part of you, and then he threw you away like last night’s leftovers. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“It isn’t like that, Dimitri. I am unsafe. Do you understand me? Whatever sleeps within me wants to fight for dominance, not of me, but of anyone who tries to subdue me. You wouldn’t win, and I cannot live with your death. I’m not a wolf. I couldn’t be one of your breeders, and you will be forced to breed with many women they bring home to you. It is expected from you as the alpha to basically have an entire harem of bitches waiting to be bred. I couldn’t accept that. I wouldn’t, I am worth more. Your traditions are barbaric and unfair. I’d want you to myself.”
“You’d have me, at least for now.”
“I’m not the girl who does one-night stands, wolf. I won’t just fuck because I have the itch to get fucked. I am not an average witch. I’m a forever girl, Dimitri. I’d want you, and to be the only one who you bred. You can’t give that to me. It isn’t something you can ever promise me, and it doesn’t matter, because my beast would slaughter yours. The entire conversation is pointless, don’t you see that?”
“I’m changing the laws for the pack. I’m working on it.” He lifted his hand to cup my cheek, but I jerked away from him. “I have to sire sons, though.”
“And I can only give you daughters.”
He smiled sadly, staring at me before he exhaled. “Just because you’re a Hecate witch doesn’t mean your other half isn’t more dominant. You could surprise us more than you already have and bring boys into your line.” He stared at me for a moment longer before he moved away, heading back to the House of Alphas.
“Dimitri,” I called, watching as he turned around. “Turn down the noise in your house. Some of us need rest.”
His arms lifted in the air, and he howled, causing the men in the house to howl back. Dick. I would never get an entire eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. I turned, staring at Knox, who waited in the shadows, watching me through narrowed slits. I lifted my fingers to my lips, blowing him a kiss as he watched me. My heart raced at the sight of him, and then he melted into the shadows, and I frowned, wondering if he’d overheard anything we’d said. With my luck, he’d heard it all.
Chapter 44
Screaming woke me from a dead sleep. I stared at the alarm clock on my nightstand, sitting up in bed. I was covered in a subtle sheen of sweat as I slipped on the silk robe that stuck to my flesh and started toward the screaming. My sisters stood outside Luna’s door, and I frowned as I pushed through, finding her bed covered in blood as she shrieked in pain, her legs red from the blood gushing out of her.
“We need a healer or a doctor. Aria, go to Knox and ask for his healer, now,” Aurora cried, staring at me before Luna howled in pain again.
“Shouldn’t we get the alpha’s healer?”
“Get Knox’s healer now, he is skilled in all breeds!” she snapped, and I turned, running through the house until my feet touched concrete as I barreled toward the dark mansion on the corner.
I pushed the intercom button on Knox’s gate and waited, pushing it several more times before Greer hissed into the speaker in a strained voice.
“Yes?”
“Greer, I need Knox. We need help,” I demanded, watching the gate slowly open as I slipped through, running toward the house. At the door, I paused until Greer opened it, fixing his robe to glare at me.