Her Broken Alpha - Isoellen Page 0,21

she wanted to do with his body.

The flesh on his right side was pitted and textured. He had ropey scars over his arms, pectorals, and thighs, as well as round scars, some concave and some convex. He looked like he'd stood in the middle of an explosion, then had to be sewn back together like a well-loved stuffy.

He was older too. His command held a hard, seasoned authority that only older alphas exhibited.

He was a strong alpha. A good alpha.

But who was he? Where had he come from?

Dark hair, black eyes, sharp features—this alpha was not handsome in the soft, cute way Crispin was. He looked vaguely familiar, though. Had she met him before?

He must have defeated Crispin, fought for the right to have her. Naya couldn't recall seeing her intended in the last couple of days and felt certain he must have challenged this man and lost.

That was what the blood was about. It was archaic and old-fashioned, but she loved it.

Hopefully poor Crispin wasn't dead. She wouldn't love that at all.

While the savagery of her claiming was not part of her planned bonding ceremony, something inside her insisted this was normal and natural behavior. She wanted to preen and brag. This powerful alpha had fought for her. He would make a good protector.

Naya was smiling up at him when he turned the handle and water rained down for the third time. His brows lowered over his eyes and big hands cupped her face, a thick-clawed thumb brushing across her cheek.

"Look at you. Higher than the clouds in your heat. Were you drugged before? Or have you always been so calm?"

His voice was smooth when he wasn't irritated, like velvet over steel. Pushing the wet strands of hair over her shoulders, he turned her so that every part of her body was rinsed. Then he guided her out of the shower so he could do the same.

"I'm always calm. Usually. Maybe I was drugged? My heat? That's why I feel so empty. Can we..." Naya stumbled over her thoughts and words, babbling senselessly, until finally she landed on a concrete idea.

"Wait. What's your name?"

He grunted at her like a beast, and not in a good way. It sounded contemptuous. She didn't know there were still animalistic males who made such crude noises in answer to perfectly good questions.

"You wouldn't know the likes of me."

His tone didn’t appeal to her any more than his grunt. It wasn't nice. But something more complex tugged at her chest—pain, not anger. She rubbed at the feeling, frowning. Was that him? What did he have to be hurt or angry about?

Naya needed him to lay with her. Put his thing in her.

Knot her.

Naya closed her eyes and moaned as slick poured out of the “V” between her clenched thighs. She looked down at it. There was so much. Now she understood her mother's extra-thick padded panties. What a mess.

"What can I call you?" she asked quietly. She wanted to know the name of the alpha who made her slick at the very thought of him.

"You can call me Monster, because that is who claimed you." He shut the water off and picked her up without drying off.

A delighted hum built in her chest at the satisfying skin-to-skin contact. Oh, yes. She needed this.

"You're supposed to be afraid of me. Terrified," he rumbled.

Naya wrapped herself around him as best she could, frustrated by an inability to lock her ankles and squeeze him tight. He was just too big. Hitched high on his chest, she found the place where she had marked him and bit him again.

Chapter Six

Naya

He carried her into a room with an oddly positioned bed lifted high off the ground. The space was clean, but it looked old. This whole place reminded her of a rundown building from another era that needed a million good sector credits’ worth of remodeling.

Furnishings were sparse: a standing rack of clothing, two gigantic trunks, and a wooden chair with a broken spoke where a glowing clay lamp had been set. No rug on the floor. No comfy window seat for reading.

Thin and worn bedding covered a broken-in mattress. It was completely unacceptable. When Monster tried to set her on it, Naya jerked away and clung to him.

"What is that? This isn't my nest!" The pitch in her voice climbed with every word until she was screeching.

Monster grumbled. "Fucked you on my desk and you were fine. Put you in my bed, and now you want a nest?"

"You