The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

Ares Pov

I ran into the woods after kissing her. I couldn’t believe I had just fucking done that. What is wrong with me? And her powers started manifesting. Fuck!

You are in love with your mate, and the faster you accept it, the faster we can get on with marking her, as Luna Strike says.

I’m not in love with her. I dislike omegas. She came among my brothers. She is a slut.

Don’t be stupid, human; you saw the papers. For all we know, that fucker was probably raping her. I growled at the thought. Even if that were true, I couldn’t allow myself to feel it. With the threat surrounding her, if I let feelings get involved, the vamps may see a weak spot and catch me off guard. I’m always guarded and never let them down. I refuse to let it down for her.

Tell yourself what you need, Ares, but you forget that I’m a part of you. I know how you feel. Keep denying me if you wish, but you and I know sooner or later that you will cave, Strike says, closing the link. I mentally rolled my eyes at him. I’ll prove him wrong. I’ll make sure she hates me so much, but it will keep her safe. I will keep her safe. I will keep her safe for my brothers, because they need her. I don’t. I don’t need her. I don’t need her. I don’t want her.

I kept repeating this to myself as I headed back to the packhouse, even though, deep down, I knew I didn’t believe it.

I spent the rest of the day in the office and went upstairs. I contemplated going to the other end of the floor to apologize to her and my brothers, but decided against it. No weakness. No weakness. None. I ended up in the guest room I’ve been in for the last week and closed the door. It was late, so I knew that, most likely, everyone was asleep.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

I washed up and kicked back on the bed, trying to fall asleep. I couldn’t, though, so I ended up on my back with my hands behind my head, staring up at the ceiling. Arabella somehow ended up overtaking my thoughts. Her beautiful heart-shaped face, long blonde hair, and beautiful curves. The way her stormy blue-gray eyes seemed to pierce right into me. She is perfect. I start to remember all the horrible things I did to her. My thoughts were racing 1000 at a time. When this danger was over, would she even want me? She may never want me again, and that sent me into a slight panic.

Suddenly, someone knocked on my door, and I opened it up. It was Arabella. She was wearing a beautiful white gown.

I backed up and sat on the bed, not saying a word. She went in, closing the door behind her. Even if she hated me, I felt like I should at least say sorry for it all.

“Arabella I,” I said, but I never got to finish as she pulled me to her, down to her sweet lips. All rationality from earlier flew straight out the window after that. Fuck it. Arabella’s Pov

I ended up waking up in the middle of the night, feeling distressed. I looked at Ash and Adonis, who were both still sleeping. I didn’t know why I was feeling this way. Ares ended up invading my thoughts again. Ares is so complicated. He says he doesn’t want me, but I know differently. I knew he felt what I felt when he kissed me. I didn’t know why I was feeling this way. He said over and over that he didn’t want me. I groan internally.

I climbed out of bed and threw on a nightgown. I left the room to go to the kitchen to get some water when I felt the distress call. It called out to me. I followed the call and knocked on the door, unsure why I was following this call. The door swung open, and it was Ares. Is this where he has been the whole time? He was dressed in gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt that outlined his muscles. His blue eyes looked down at me in annoyance, but then softened up. I heard music playing on the radio. Music calms him too.

I thought he was going to tell me to go away, but he simply backed away and sat down on the bed. I walked in and closed the door. He looked so good, with this black hair all tussled. He looked conflicted, like he was battling to tell me something, and all I knew was that I wanted to erase his painful look on his face, so I walked up to him and grabbed his shirt, pulling me into a kiss while he was saying my name. He was surprised at first, but he caved in quickly, and he kissed me back. Unlike his brothers, this kiss was more sweet and needy than animalistic, and I was hooked. He pulled me onto the bed and found his way on top of me, kissing me again. He ended up deepening the kiss as I ran my hands through his hair.

He kissed my neck, nipping at the spot where his mark would go, and I moaned at the sudden touch. It was so tender and so sweet. I needed more. I pulled at his hands, feeling his already stiff dick, and pulled it out. He groaned at my touch, and I loved how it made me feel. I stroked him as he kept nipping at my neck.

He then got off the bed and pulled my nightgown off. He pulled down his pants and took off his shirt, his blue eyes raking my body, and he licked his lips. I gushed at it. He climbed back on top of me, trailing kisses around my shoulder, and stopped at my breast, taking my nipple in his mouth and biting lightly with his teeth. I jumped at the sudden feeling. It was arousing. He made his way back up and back into my mouth. One of his hands trailed my body and above my core as he trailed small circles there.

“Are you, please?” I moaned. I was so lost in my head that I didn’t even know what I was asking for, but he did. He inserted two fingers inside me, using this thumb to grind my clitoral area, and I was in such heaven.

“You’re such a wet princess,” he said, still kissing me, and I just ended up becoming even wetter at the sudden nickname. He increased the speed of his fingers, and my body spasmed as I released my orgasm on his fingers. He took his fingers out of me and put them in his mouth.

“So sweet,” he groaned, and, fuck, I needed him inside me after that. I used my wolf speed, pushing him on his back, and I climbed on top. I positioned his member under me and slid down on him.

FUCKKK, we moaned together as I slid down, and I started riding him. I used his chest for support as I ended up grinding against him, feeling so full. He held me by my waist and motioned his hips towards me, keeping pace. We kept the pace for a while before he shifted us with his wolf speed, and I ended up on my back with him still inside me, my legs wrapped around me. He then took charge, pushing in and out of me, and I am in heaven right now. Our lips entwined, and the kiss deepened.

“Ares?” I moaned with my fingers, scratching his back. He hissed, as I’m sure I was drawing blood, but I didn’t care, and he didn’t stop. He picked up the pace. I felt my stomach tighten as an orgasm formed, and I was close.

“Don’t come,” he commanded, and I tried so hard not to.

“You’re so tight, princess,” he groaned, and I moaned in response. As he picked up the ace, he gripped my shoulders, pushing into me, and I felt an orgasm building up inside of me. This was such a pleasure that I never thought I would ever experience. I needed to come, but I needed him to tell me it was okay.

“I need to. I need to. I kept trailing off. He was pounding into me so roughly now, and I was struggling to hold the building orgasm.

“Come for me, princess,” he groaned, and that sh*t came bursting out of me.

“Oh, my god. Are!” I screamed, clawing into his chest, as my orgasm filled my entire body with a high. Never in my life had I felt one with this much intensity.

“BELLA!” he groaned and shot right into me. We ended up riding high together, kissing each other. After we had come off our high, he slipped out of me and sat beside me. We remained silent for a while. I was lost in thought. I can’t believe what just happened. He probably doesn’t want me in his bed anymore. I try to stop the tears that want to form at the thought. I shift away from him and get ready to shift out of bed to get dressed, but he pulls me back to him and looks at me questionably.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice sounding so sexy.

I didn’t know if you would still want me here,” I told him, looking away. He grabs my face in his hand and makes me look back at him.

“Stay,” he says. It sounded more like a question to him. Ares was asking me to stay the night with him, and I was not in a position to say no. I wanted my mate. I nodded, and he pulled me into a kiss. The kiss was an I need you kiss, and it deepened. I felt him getting erect again.

“Really Ares,” I grinned into his mouth, and his face lit up with the cutest smile I’ve ever seen. I loved it. I wasn’t going to fight what I was feeling anymore. I’ll admit it to myself. I love him.

“Well, maybe if you stopped kissing me, it wouldn’t happen,” he says, planting kisses around my collarbone. I couldn’t help but giggle.

“But you’re kissing me,” I giggled, playing with his hair.

“Fair point,” he says and ends back in my mouth. This was a whole new side of Ares, and I wanted to get to know it more. I was smitten by it. We ended up making love a few more times before we passed out on the bed together, wrapped in each other’s arms.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you, princess,” was all I heard before the darkness took me, and I fell asleep content. Ares Pov

I ended up waking up first. It was the best sleep I have had in the longest time. I felt movement beside me, and I tensed, thinking Briana’s annoying ass had wormed her way back into my bed again, but then I saw Arabella’s heart-shaped face. She was sleeping, but she was smiling. The prior night’s events came rushing into my head, and I felt incredibly happy. I end up running my fingers through her beautiful blonde hair carefully so I don’t wake her up. She looks like an angel when she sleeps. She is so beautiful.

What is this I’m feeling? I remove my hands from her face and mentally facepalm myself. I’m supposed to be keeping her at a distance and making her hate me. Here I am, doing the exact fucking opposite.

Arabella stirs in her sleep.

“Ares?” she mumbles, and I smile. It’s cute that she is dreaming about me. I trailed a finger down her face. Her skin is so soft. I lean in and inhale her blueberry-mate scent. It truly is intoxicating.

“Ares, I love…” Arabella mumbles, but we are both jolted up by bamming on my door. Arabella jumps up, slipping on her dress fast, half-sleepy as if she did something wrong, and I slip into shorts. Was she about to say what I think she was? The bamming continues, and I open the door, ready to curse out whoever is doing it. I see Briana, and she throws her arms around me for a kiss. I pushed her back and turned to look at Arabella, who had her hand over her chest, looking at me and Briana with horror. I saw the tears start to form in her eyes as she ran past me out of the room into hers, locking the door. My brothers were coming up the stairs at the time and saw her running into the room, and they both shifted their confused gazes to me and Briana. I grabbed Briana by her arm and tossed her out of my room. My relationship with her ended a few days ago.

“Get the fuck out of my sight,” I growled to her, and she scrambled away, hurt. I don’t care. My brothers are still looking at me in confusion. I ignored them and headed to their room.

“Princess,” I said, knocking on the door. No response.

“Princess, answer me, please,” I asked her. I can hear her sniffles, and I can feel her sadness, but she doesn’t respond.

“Bella, I didn’t know she was coming. You have to believe me. Open the door, Bella,” I begged her.

“Go away!” she shouts, and her crying becomes even harder. That just pissed me off. I started to pound on the door.

“Open the fucking door, Bella,” I demanded, but she didn’t. She just continued to cry. I turned around and sighed, trying to keep my wolf from coming out.

Ash and Adonis are both smirking, looking at me with a surprised expression.

“WHAT?” I yelled at them and went to my room. I can hear them behind me.

“We were looking for Bella, afraid something had happened, but it looked like she was in good hands,” Adonis states, looking at my messy bed and smirking.

“Get the fuck away from me,” I tell them, annoyed. They throw their hands up and leave. I swear I’m going to fucking kill Briana.