Hope had been so disappointed when she'd visited her first big box store after leaving the compound. It turned out that Satan didn't meet her at the door—just some grey-haired guy named Greg in a blue vest.
The alpha cast her one more baleful glance before shoving a spoonful into his mouth and chewing. "It's actually not that bad."
"Thank you," Hope said. "You do realize that I found all this food in your pantry, don't you?"
The alpha finished the bowl in another couple of bites and tossed it on the ground. "Never thought to put these particular ingredients together, though."
"You didn't seem to have any trouble scarfing it down," she said, taking a bite.
"You can't be picky when your stomach's been empty for days."
Days? Hope looked up from her bowl, appalled. "How long have you been out here?"
"Four days."
"What?"
Holy crap. Hope shot up from the log, setting down her bowl. No wonder the alpha looked so rough and wild. The poor man had been out in the elements, chained up like a dog, for the better part of a week. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"If you care how so much about my welfare, go get the key and unlock me," he shot back.
Hope wasn't convinced. Four days was a long time to be sleeping outside in the elements, but that didn't mean she was about to let this creature loose and share her bed.
But the thing was, it wasn't really her bed. She was the invader here, not him. God knew, she would leave if she could…but she couldn't.
"You must be starving," she said. "Give me your bowl, and I'll refill it."
A dangerous glint shone in his dark eyes. "Come get it yourself."
No way in hell. Hope turned on her heel and went back inside. Grabbing a fresh bowl, she filled it to the brim before going back out into the chilly evening. Once again, she pushed the food forward with a stick like she was feeding a dangerous animal.
A fact that wasn't lost on the alpha.
"You know you're going to have set me free eventually," he said. "You're only going to make it harder on yourself the longer you wait."
Hope sat back down and picked up her bowl. "What's that supposed to mean?"
The alpha watched her, barely blinking as he ate. His eyes never left hers, not even for a second. A powerful heat stirred inside of Hope and only grew hotter, the longer his eyes stayed on her.
"You want what only I can give you," he murmured, his voice dark and low. Hope felt the walls of her pussy contract at the promise in his words. "You've been through your first heat, but it wasn't consummated. You have to know you need it. Soon you'll be climbing the walls, desperate for my cock in your pussy, your mouth, your ass —"
Hope bolted up so fast her bowl toppled from her lap, spilling cheesy beans onto the ground. "Whoa. I don't know who you think I am, but I promise you that I will never beg for you to do anything to my ass."
Hope didn't consider herself a prude, but there's was no escaping the effect growing up in a fundamentalist sect had on her sex life. She no longer believed that sex was only for reproduction or to service a husband's carnal needs, but that didn't mean she was ready to make the jump to butt stuff.
"We'll see…" The alpha's voice trailed off.
"I'm not here just to have sex with you," she snapped.
"I didn't say you were," he said calmly, setting the empty bowl aside. "You can cook…sort of. There must be a few other things you're decent at. Once we've fucked enough to calm down, we'll divide up the work around here."
"I'm not your maid either," Hope said, reddening at his casual tone, as if having sex was akin to scratching an annoying itch.
"No," he agreed, a dangerous note creeping into his tone. "You're my omega. Do you even have any idea what that means?"
Hope slid a little further away on the log.
She didn't, really. She didn't know much about alphas or omegas at all. Just what she'd been taught by her mother and the preacher. Chances were, they were just as wrong about that as they had been about everything else.
Not that she was going to admit it.
"Of course," she said brightly.
The alpha gave a dark laugh as he stood up. It was clear he didn't believe her. "Let me show you, little one."
At first, her gaze rested on his bare chest—the pectoral muscles that looked like they were carved from stone, the biceps as huge and hard as the tree trunk behind him.
Then his hands slid down to his pants, and Hope's eyes followed, going wide with astonishment at the size of the bulge straining against the fabric.
Her fingertips twitched. Her mouth watered. The sensations that had been building since the moment she woke up were now becoming unbearable.
"Let me show you what you want," the alpha growled. "What you're craving."
Hope knew she should turn away. Deep down, she knew what would happen next, but somehow she couldn't look anywhere else. Especially once the alpha began to rub himself.
A second later, he tore open the fly of his pants, and his cock sprung free.
Hope's face flushed with heat.
Goddamn, he was big. Huge. Nothing like any guy Hope had ever been with.
Not that she'd been with that many. She hadn't had the chance.
But the alpha's cock was nothing short of majestic. Just the sight of it was enough to fuel her flames. Even more slick pooled between her legs, drenching the folds of her dress.
A slight twinge of shame shivered through Hope at her reaction--but it was nothing in
