The Alpha's Oracle (SAMPLE, IronMoon #1)

This Goes Both Ways

 I defied him and wore a tee-shirt and panties to bed. I knew he'd be angry. For a while I had thought I'd just do what he wanted and avoid the fight, then I was so angry at myself that I had put on panties and a tee-shirt. He was not going to beat me into submission, I was not going to just do his bidding!

He had knocked me down that day. Now the shock had worn off, and I saw myself crawling through my life, tail between my legs, belly on the ground, cowering at his every little twitch and glare. That's what he was used to, that's what he wanted. I couldn't be beaten so easily.

Gabel got into bed next to me. I knew pretending to be asleep was pointless. I hoped he'd just go to sleep and leave me alone in the darkness.

But his fingertips grazed my back.

I stiffened at his unexpected touch. It tickled. Then his fingers grabbed my shirt.

"I told you," he snarled, "Naked!"

He surged across the bed. His silhouette was darker than the lightless room, and he yanked me onto my back. I shrank back into the pillows in sheer terror. My defiance did not seem like such a good idea just then. Perhaps I wasn't a proud she-wolf but a prideful, stupid child with no good sense!

"Did I not warn you?" he loomed over me.

"You did." sobs got in the way of my words.

How he frightened me hurt him, how much I hated this hurt him, but he didn't care. He didn't care one damn bit. The Bond could punish him and that's what he wanted! He wanted to fight it and resist it and defy the Bond.

"You have five seconds to take this off before I rip it off you. Again."

I sobbed.

Ashamed of myself for caving to him so readily, I obeyed. I was no warrior. I had no courage. Amber would have fought him. Amber would have yelled and snarled and clawed at him and made him force her to do what he wanted. I just did what he wanted, like everyone else.

"I told you." he slunk back to his corner of the bed, like a beast slinking back into its shadows, "We do not stand on human modesty here. It's stupid. And you defying me just to prove you have the will to do so is even more stupid."

I wept and curled into a little ball. What will? I had no will. I had defied his anger for ten seconds. A lot of things went through my mind that I could say to him, but all I could manage was just to cry.

It wouldn't make a difference. Just like he could sense my misery, I could sense his angry resolve. He was the Alpha, and I had defied him just to defy him. It couldn't be allowed. He wouldn't tolerate it. He was the Alpha. And I wasn't the Luna.

Period.

He didn't tell me to stop crying.

I wept myself to sleep. For the second night in a row.

*****

Gabel decided that Alpha Anders should get an invite up to IronMoon. Gabel wanted to get a look at those collars for himself.

I didn't think Anders would show up (if he was smart, he wouldn't) but he did, with a small group of what I presumed were his strongest warriors.

For the five days leading up to that I had avoided Gabel as much as I could, confining myself to my scrying room. He had eventually caught on to this and demanded I at least eat dinner with the pack. He had been too busy preparing for Anders' arrival to pester me with more than that, but I always felt his gaze watching me, or his awareness not too far away.

He was always there. Because of the Bond.

If I was naked in bed and present at dinner that was all he cared about.