Elijah and Lacey

"I do!" I announced to the Minister as my body turned into jelly.

Just like that, I was a married woman.

*************************

"Sam...I'm married. I h-had to get married." I whispered into my cell phone. "I don't even know his name!" I wailed.

My husband was off, who knew where, being Alpha. Rita gave me an icy look before she went home. I was sitting on the floor in the bathroom that my whole apartment could easily fit into.

"Can't you come and get me?" I whined, wiping the occasional tear that trickled down my cheek. I couldn't imagine how much of a mess my mascara had made.

"Sure, and while I'm there, maybe the Alpha will be nice enough to rip my head off my neck for attempting to take his wife-mate away from him for no reason!" Sam scoffed. "You'll be fine, Lacey. He'll never hurt you. If he does, on the off chance, then I will step in. I may die when I do but, none the less, you have my word of honor. His name is Elijah Drake, by the way. Didn't you read ANY of the books at the council library?"

We ended our call with him also promising that Tia and Jazmin would call the next day. I wished that it was tomorrow already because I really needed to hear their voices.

"Are you going to be in the there any longer? I'd like to go." The Alpha's raised voice penetrated the bathroom door. I jumped from being startled and nearly moaned out loud. I had to get a grip! I could not keep having this reaction to the sound of his voice.

"Yeah, okay." Maybe if I piss him off all the time, he'll keep his mouth shut indefinitely, I thought. I slowly took pronounced steps toward the bathroom door and turned the door knob. I took off my shoes while I was on the phone and was clutching them in my left hand. I pulled the door opened and there stood the Alpha...Elijah. He was without his glasses and leather jacket this time.

His eyes roamed over me but paused at my feet. My pantyhose had developed quite a webbing effect with all the runs beginning at the toe area. I watched his eyebrows wrinkle slightly and I curled my toes under. He shook his head, exhaled, and stepped out of my way so that I could pass.

"Your things are here, in the front room." He said, closing the bathroom door behind him.

I rubbed at the goose-bumps that suddenly appeared on my arms and I made my way to the front room of our suite. My clothes were neatly hung in mobile clothing racks and the rest were organized in labeled boxes. I felt a little self conscious about strangers going through my underwear and things but I pushed those thoughts out of my mind.

I found the flannel pajamas that Sam got me last Christmas; they were sky blue with orange rubber duckies on them and I never wore them. I planned on wearing them that night, thank you very much. I also found my robe, slippers, and toiletries; then I made my way back to Alpha Elijah's bedroom to wait for another turn in the bathroom.

I was deciding whether or not to call in sick the next day when the bathroom door swung open and the Alpha stepped out, wearing only brown silk bottoms. The pants hung low on his waist and I was shocked to see that the male had a swimmer's build. He was short but he was definitely ripped. My eyebrows were raised in lust-filled surprise when he turned and caught me ogling him. Though it was probably too late to look away, I did it anyway.

"The bathroom is yours if you need it." He said with a smirk.

I flew passed the mini Alpha, in a huff, and closed the bathroom behind me. Suddenly, pajamas meant for an eleven year old girl didn't seem like a good idea anymore. I shrugged my shoulders while holding up my sleeping ensemble. Oh, well...I wasn't planning on letting him sample the goods tonight, anyway. With an audible 'humph', I went on with my usual night time routine.

****************

I wasn't nervous about sleeping with the Alpha since I was donned in my passion-killing pajamas. I sent a silent thanks to Sam as I braided my long hair. I did my best to appear normal while still doing a great job of ignoring the male who I could literally feel staring at me again.

When I was done with my hair, I pulled back the covers on the bed and climbed in. I finally let myself glance at him and I rolled my eyes. He could have at least asked me which side of the bed I preferred. Granted, this was his bed...in his mansion but I would have shown some courtesy if we were in MY apartment. Males...

Irritated, I turned onto my side, facing away from him. I was just about to relax after a good mental rant when I was seized and flipped onto my back. I squeaked loudly and my life flashed before my eyes.

"Hello." He smiled, straddling my legs and pinning my hands down above my head.

Hello? Hello? He scared the crap out of me and he says 'Hello'? What the HELL?!

I looked up at him, my face was frozen in terror. On most occasions, I would admit to being a bit on the imbalanced side. With my past, who wouldn't be? I had a bad feeling that this Alpha was not only dangerous and viscous, but he was psychotic as well.

"I've given you some space and now...I want your full attention." He leaned in close to me and breathed in my scent, savoring it. Between his wretched beautiful voice, his hard body pressed deliciously against mine, and his warm breath tickling my ear; I wondered how many of those poor duckies were experiencing an unexpected flood near my crotch area.

The Alpha parted my legs with his knees and I didn't absolutely hate that he was slowly rubbing himself against me, drenching my panties more. It was unfairly seductive and methodical on his part but my sensitive nipples hardened with delight and my hips began to lift...on their own accord, of course. I was NOT having sex with him! He was a stranger to me no matter what that marriage certificate on the dresser said.

I prided myself on being better than some sex starved air head who would give it up for less than the cost of a 'Happy Meal' at McDonald's. I didn't mind that he was trying and I was happy to experience his ambitious efforts but these duckies weren't moving an inch.

He was doing some amazing nibbling on my earlobe but when he began to drift southward, I cleared my throat loudly. His head lifted and he smiled at me. His hips didn't stop their slow movements and shamefully, neither did mine. It was apparent that we entered into some sort of an unspoken "challenge" once more. His thick hardness dug into me, rubbing my clit, piercing through the protection of the duckies.

"You know what we need to do." He drawled. His voice dropped an impossible few octaves lower and I couldn't stop my back from arching as I gasped and moaned helplessly.

"N-n-nooo. S-stop. P-please. On m-my period. C-cramps. T-took a v-vow...celibacy..." I wasn't even for sure what I was mumbling but I said whatever popped into my head, whether it was true or not.

"You're NOT on your period." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously but he did stop his naughty movements. I was finally able to take a huge deep breath. Now, I had to convince my hateful body, somehow, that I wanted him to stop.

"I need...more time...before we...do...this." I said between breaths.

"We NEED to complete our mating, Mrs. DRAKE." He emphasized my new name with irritation.

'Excuse me?! We met just a minute ago and you think that giving me your stupid last name is the ticket?' I never actually said that aloud but I pursed my lips and let my eyes do the talking.

"You CAN claim me without the sex part." I was tempted to add a 'duh' to that but I still wasn't completely comfortable with the state of his sanity.

He stared at me as if trying to find a way to refute that little fact. Ha! Score one for the duckies...I hoped. He sighed in defeat but I didn't believe for one second that he was going to give up.

I hated being right sometimes. Without warning, I heard a rip and looked down to see the poor little duckies being torn and shredded from my upper body. Buttons were flying in all directions.

"HEY!!!!" I yelled.

The Alpha just growled in response and shot forward to sink his teeth into the crook of my neck. The pain overtook my entire body and I started to tremble uncontrollably. He pulled my head toward the crook of his neck, signaling for me to mimic his actions. That was when I began to fight back. I HAD to get away.

It was so dark. The parking garage was empty except for the cars belonging to security and no one heard me screaming. Maybe I hadn't screamed. My head spun in all directions, trying to find the source of the nasal-sounding growls. My heart beat so fast and hard that I wanted to cry from the ache of it. The growls were getting closer and the echoes had me picturing the most horrific scenes. I made a decision. I kicked off my heels and made a run for my car. It was the wrong thing to do because something ran into me from behind, knocking the wind from my lungs as I slammed into the concrete. I could not scream. I opened my mouth wide but nothing came out. Something was burning my shoulder. I tried to see but I was being held in place by something big, black, and furry. It had claws and they were digging into me. Dizziness set in and I was fading fast...

******************

It was the second time in a matter of hours that I found myself staring up at a strange ceiling, in a strange bed. I searched through my memories, trying to come up with an explanation as to what had happened.

This time I was in a small room surrounded by hospital equipment. The duckies were long gone and was replaced with a drab looking hospital gown. There was no way I was in a real hospital; not a non-were hospital anyway.

I heard arguing outside the door and only two of the voices were familiar to me. One of them belonged to Alpha and the other, that I recognized, was...Sam?

"SAM!" I called out as loudly as I could. The arguing ceased and then I heard hurried footsteps.

A red-faced Sam burst through the door first and the Alpha followed. Two huge males followed the Alpha closely. All had grim expressions on their faces.

My focus was brought back to Sam when he spoke.

"You okay?" He asked, studying my reaction.

"Yeah, I'm...fine. Is everything okay here?" I looked around at the others as their eyes kept lingering at the crook of my neck. I touched the bandage that was there. "Oh." I remembered. The Alpha...or rather, Elijah (I think we were safely at first name bases now),tried to claim me and I guessed that it didn't go so well.

"I'm taking you home." Sam said this to me but he looked squarely at Elijah. Had he lost his mind?

"You'll die before you take MY female." Elijah said this calmly but his tense body shouted that he was anything but calm at the moment.

"NO!" I yelled again. I sat up and grabbed for Sam's arm as he tried to shush me and push me back down onto the bed. I turned and looked at Elijah but his eyes never left Sam and I had a bad feeling that something was about to happen...a really bad feeling.

"Sam, Elijah didn't hurt me! You know me! I flipped out and was back at the parking garage after work. It wasn't his fault! Sam?"

He didn't appear to be listening to me. Sam's eyes started to glow. Elijah began to growl menacingly and the other two males seemed to get larger than they were before. I had never seen Sam this mad before and I probably would never see another peaceful nights sleep after looking at Elijah. I peered from one male to the other. I didn't know who to be more afraid of, Elijah or Sam...and I was right smack in the middle.

"Take him to the cells in the basement. I'll deal with him later.", Elijah ordered the two males flanking his side. The followed their orders promptly and Sam was being pulled away from me.

"Leave him alone!" I looked wild with panic at Elijah. "Stop this!" I yelled at my husband but he only gave me the coldest of glares. Sam patted my knee on his way out. He left peacefully.

I was alone with Elijah and the silence carried on. I could see that it was going to be up to me to break that silence.

"Let Sam go home." I demanded, making eye contact. My voice wavered a bit but I refused to look away.

"No." He answered simply.

"Why not? He was only trying to protect me. He didn't understand." I tried to explain.

"It's not his place to protect you. You are MY mate." He growled.

"Yeah...well, technically, I'm not your mate and I never will be if you hurt my...Sam." My voice started out strong and confident but faltered as Elijah began to stalk closer to me. I swallowed as his face quickly ended up a mere inches from mine.

"YOUR Sam?" He asked.

A million danger alarms went off in my mind and I fought the urge to whimper and retreat.

"He's like a father to me. Nothing...else, okay?" I hoped he would simmer down but he was still as tense as ever.

"What happened earlier? You gave me the green light to claim you and then---"

"I'm sorry. I was surprised. You didn't give me any warning..."

"Would a warning really have mattered?"

I couldn't answer that. I really didn't know. A bite was a bite.

"I don't understand any of this. You fainted...twice. You don't behave like a were female. You were turned more than three years ago. Whatever trauma you experienced should have passed by now."

"Says who...you? Since when did you pick up infinite wisdom into the inner workings of everyone's mind, oh great Alpha?" It didn't matter if I secretly felt the same way, I didn't want him thinking it.

Elijah looked at me like I was a whole new species he accidentally discovered. "Those pictures I had taken of you never once caught you in your shifted form. Why is that? Can you even shift at all?" He said this in an accusatory way that I did not appreciate. The scandalized expression on his face would have been hilarious if I was someone else...anyone else.

"Go. To. Hell. I can shift just fine. Sorry you didn't see that when you were spying on me like some depraved pervert." I snarled. The shifting thing was a sensitive sore spot for me; so much so that I forgot who I was talking to for a moment. I braced myself for what was about to happen next. I said a little prayer and waited. Thankfully, nothing happened. I got the silent treatment again. I was becoming an old pro at that.

"You're wishing you would have went with the next runner up, huh?" I asked. I secretly dreaded the answer was 'yes' when he didn't respond. He just turned and walked away from me and out of the room.