Saving Briar

“She’s gone.”

Theon walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and found the human girl sprawled out on his bed, wearing only her long dark hair for cover as she lay on top of his sheets. He frowned as he looked at her. She did bear a remarkable resemblance to his mate.

“Who?” He tried to sound gruff as he growled out the word but he only sounded tired. She was as much a pawn in this as he was. Fuck, if he was even a little bit honest with himself, she was more of a pawn because she needed to feed her daughter and if he actually grew a pair and said no to Cara, maybe he could have been happy. Or at least his mate wouldn’t be wherever the Hell she was, beaten to a bloody pulp and scared out of her mind.

He glanced across the room, pushing the thought of his little, perfect mate out of his mind. He couldn’t handle thinking about her right now. Not while he was sober. The fact that this human even looked like the little Omega made it hard for him to dislike her.

What the fuck even was his mate’s name again? Fuck he was pathetic.

How had he let this happen?

“Cara? Your girlfriend? The love of your life? The girl who comes over and talks about you non-stop. The one you’re going to marry?”

“Wait, so you two are actually friends?” The dark haired girl’s mouth snapped shut so fast he knew he had hit on something that Cara wouldn’t want him to know and that meant that it was something that he needed to know. Cara had acted as if she happened upon this girl roaming the streets of the town and told her to hop in. Obviously this wasn’t true if she knew the woman’s daughter. But still the story just wasn’t adding up. He wanted the story and he wanted it from this Omega look alike. Not from Cara.

Turning he let his eyes trace the figure of the naked brunette. At least with this woman he could really pretend that it was his mate.

“Do you know my mate’s name?” he asked, as he stalked closer to the bed, his attention now fully focused on the woman who had been paid to show him the time of his life.

“Cara?” she asked, her voice suddenly overly cautious.

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.” He was surprised to hear the threatening tone in his voice. He sounded dangerous and he realized it was because he was.

“Cara would fucking kill me if she knew we were having this conversation.” The dark haired beauty had pushed herself into a sitting position as she ran a hand roughly through her long dark waves.

“How about I make it worth your while. I’ll pay you double whatever Cara’s paying you. And Cara will never know. And we’ll see about making this arrangement ongoing. Even if it doesn’t work out with me I’m sure I can set you up with a guy who will treat you right. I’ll make sure you and your daughter are taken care of. That should have happened anyways if she’s half wolf. Our pack takes care of its own.”

He realized as the words left his mouth that they hadn’t been doing that for a very long time. Had he taken care of his Omegas? How had she been so thin when she’d stood right in front of him? She looked half starved.

Cara’s eyes were huge as she stared at him, but finally she took a deep breath. “You promise, Alpha?”

“You’ve got my word.” He made a cross over his heart as he smiled at her.

“Fuck me.” she muttered, shaking her head. “I can already tell that you’re trouble Alpha Theon. The name you want is Briar. And in a pack this small I don’t know how you don’t know that girl’s name. She’s stunning, even if she is an Omega. Even I know her.”

Theon silenced her with a hard look.

“Enough. What’s your actual name?”

“Harlow.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and for a moment he wished he was mated to a girl as simple and uncomplicated as the one before him, even if she was human. Heck, even if she already had a child with one of his pack members.

“Okay Harlow, don’t ever breathe a word of this to Cara, but I’m about to fuck you, and I am going to be calling you Briar when I do.”

“Fucking Hell.” Harlow shook her head, but she smiled all the same, giving her shoulders a small shrug.

“Whatever you want, Alpha. How do you want me? From behind?”

“No. Fuck no. You look just like her. I hardly even have to pretend.” Harlow shrugged and nodded, as if what he’d said was an undeniable fact. He wanted to get back to that, but later.

Turning away from her he walked across the room opening up the cabinet where he kept his best alcohol.

“You want anything?” he asked, after standing with his back to her for a long moment. There was a long silence before she answered.

“Sure. Whatever you’re drinking is fine.”

“Bourbon it is then.” He walked across the room to the fridge and put ice in both their drinks before pouring the smooth, amber liquid over it. His glass was significantly fuller than the one he poured for the girl and he slammed it back, not even taking the time to savor the expensive liquid before pouring himself a second glass. It was a waste and he knew it, but if was going to indulge in the fantasy he was attempting to create, he needed to be a little bit drunk. And werewolves his size didn’t get drunk easily or stay drunk for long.

He heard her footsteps fall lightly on the thick white carpet of the room as she walked up behind him, wrapping her slender arms around his waist. Ffor a moment his senses were confused. Her scent was wrong. It was human, but she also had the soft feminine scent of a female She-Wolf. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes but this time he could only smell her sweet, human scent beneath the jasmine of her perfume. Maybe the alcohol was already clouding his senses more powerfully than he’d expected.

Reaching around him she picked up the glass and lifted it to her lips as he turned to watch her. She sipped the bourbon slowly without wincing, the way most women he knew did. Once the glass was empty she placed it lightly on the table before winding her arms around his neck and tilting her head.

“You’re sure about this, Alpha?” One perfectly sculpted eyebrow was raised. He had no doubt that she thought that what he’d suggested was a terrible idea, but she was still perfectly willing to go along with it.

“Fuck yeah.” Setting his glass down on the table he reached towards her, letting his hands tangle in her dark waves as his mouth crashed down on her lips, tasting the bourbon she’d been drinking a few moments earlier. He felt her tense for a moment, as if she were surprised, before her body began to respond, her hands running up over the hard muscles of his back

Lifting her up by the waist he placed her on the table, suddenly driven by an inexplicable desire to taste her. It was inexplicable, at least to Theon, because he’d never done it to any other girl, not even Cara. He’d never wanted to, although she’d gone down on him almost every day since they’d started dating. The idea had just never appealed to him and so he’d never done it. But now, with this sweet compliant human before him, who wasn’t even his True Mate, who was just someone who he was pretending was the real thing, he suddenly needed her taste on his tongue. He wanted to feel her coming apart on his lips, to taste her juices running across his tongue and to hold her close while she bucked against his face.

Falling down on his knees he drew her to the edge of the table, spreading her knees wide as he met her eyes. She looked surprised for a moment, as she realized what he was about to do, briefly shaking her head, her mouth forming a silent o,before she opened her mouth to protest. “But Cara said that you didn’t- that you don’t-”

The sharp look that he gave her as he plunged two fingers inside her dripping cunt cut her off.

“Are you really going to complain right now?” He continued to stare into her eyes as his tongue flicked out, licking the length of her slit in long deep strokes before he zeroed in on her clit and began to circle it, occasionally sucking the small bundle of nerves between his teeth just to hear her gasp. She was so wet, and so close to coming, but he kept bringing her to the edge and then backing off just a bit. He wanted her first orgasm with him to be unforgettable, even if she was just a toy Cara had brought for him to play with. He wasn’t sure why it mattered so much to him, but for some reason, it did.

“Please. Oh fuck. Please Alpha.”

“What Baby? What do you want?”

“Let me come.”

“Alright Baby.” Picking her up, he carried her to the bed, and grabbed a condom, easing it over his enormous cock before sliding it inside of her. “Fuck, Harlow. You’re so tight. I’m not gonna last long.” He vaguely realized his plan to pretend she was someone else had gone out the window.

As he began to slide in and out of her with long even strokes, he felt her core clench around his cock, as she began to cry out, her nails digging into the hard plains of his back as she came around him, her tight core milking his cock. And then he was coming with her, his face pressed against her neck, his canines lengthening.

He only barely stopped himself when he realized how very, very close he had come to marking her, instead pulling back and kissing her forehead lightly, before going to dispose of the condom in the bathroom.

He bent forward and stared at his reflection in the mirror, trying to make sense of what the Hell was going on in his head. He hadn’t just rejected an Omega who was his True Mate to go and mark a human as his Luna. Oh fuck no. He needed to get his head on straight and remember his priorities.

The human could warm his bed. He already had Cara who was fit to be his Luna. He just needed to sever the mate bond, which he should have done immediately and then maybe his brain would start functioning normally again. Something had to give because he certainly couldn’t keep going on the way he had been for the last forty-eight hours. He was out of control and if anyone else figured it out, he’d be done for in next to no time.