Marked Between Alphas

~Seraphina

With the heavy ass laundry bag slung over my shoulder, I crossed the room.

​My muscles ached, fatigue burdening with each step I made. Dumping the ample bag into the tub, I watch the wave of laundry topple out before I pour a bucket of cold water in after it.

​It's unsurprising that I'm on laundry duty once again while my coworkers flit about dusting and making beds. My hands are raw despite the quality of soap, which was great but as I dig into the threads, the exertion tears away at my skin.

It was important that the Alpha's laundry be personally dealt with every day, a task that was fast becoming solely mine, but at least I have the entire laundry room to myself.

Or so I thought.

Strong hands grasp my waist suddenly, the fingertips digging into my ribs.

​Yelping, I whirl around, only to see my Alpha looming behind me, a crooked grin on his face. I swallow my string unspoken curses, releasing a long exhale instead.

​"You scared me," I mutter, pushing at his chest, forcing him back a step. I leave a wet handprint on his grey shirt, soap suds popping and vanishing into the threads of the lavish material.

​"Sorry sweetheart, I didn't mean to scare you." He leans back on the folding bench, unfurling a towel I folded minutes ago to wipe his front down.

​"You shouldn't be down here." I take the towel from him once he's done, wincing at the bite of pain from my sores as I wipe my hands off.

​Bradley, my Alpha and boss, is never usually this brazen. We keep our affairs private, so as not to rouse gossip that my coworkers would effortlessly toss around. In fact, he doesn't often seek me out while I'm working.

​"I own this entire estate. I can be wherever I please, remember?" His cocksure grin only widens, his arms spreading out to encompass the place.

​I huff out a breath, rolling my eyes.

​He rarely ventures down to the servants' quarters, which aren't even on ground level, but below. He moans about how damp and grungy it is down here, how it always smells like mould and bleach. And yet we, his dutiful staff, suit the environment just fine, apparently.

​"Well, I'm assuming you're here to see me, right?" I untie my white apron, tossing it to the side. My work pinafore isn't a pleasant sight to behold, but Bradley first seduced me in it, so it must be doing something for me.

​He smiles, pressing his thumb against my shoulder to ease a wrinkle in the fabric. "Presumptuous, yet right as always."

​"Nadine will kill me if she thinks I'm slacking on work." Not only that, but I would be stuck on bathroom duty for the foreseeable future.

​Bradley shrugs casually. "I'll fire her then."

​I've heard that before. His usual empty, meaningless promises to improve my life that never come to fruition.

He ends up going on and on about favouritism and how any hint of us being together would be detrimental for us both. Despite incurring my father's wrath, being attached to an Alpha wouldn't be the worst look for me.

​"No, you won't." I come to his side, facing the table he leans against so I can start folding clean pillowcases. "If conduct meant anything to you, I would have been fired a long time ago."

​He turns, brushing an errant hair off the side of my face. "Fucking your boss is quite the offense, isn't it?"

​I shrug off his touch, a smile playing at my lips. It would be the scandal of the year. I'm classes below Bradley in society, and he would be considered weak if he stooped to my level. Still, we have a lot of fun. I look forward to the few times a week when we come together passionately and fervently, desperate to tear our clothes off and have at each other.

​"My boss who also happens to be my father's boss," I bring up, giving him a sidelong glance.

​"He'll never find out," he murmurs.

​My father has been Bradley's war advisor for a few years now. We live on the edge of the property in a small cottage nestled into the hillside. My father takes his job seriously, and would dig my grave preemptively were he to learn about my promiscuous relationship with our Alpha. He wants me to marry and adhere to the values of this pack. I want freedom instead.

​I sigh through my nose. "Oh, I know he won't find out..."

​Despite having what I believe is a close connection, Bradley has kept our relationship strictly sexual. Despite that unspoken distinction, he fills my head with pretty words and promises about a future together that I'm losing hope in attaining. I really like him. I probably would find I love him if I put thought into it, but I actively avoid the notion.

​He's as beautiful as I imagine all six Alphas in the land are. His hair is long and straight, brushing against his shoulders. He's always pushing both hands through the dark brown strands, revealing a jawline even saints envy.

I've always loved his eyes the most. They are a tumultuous mix of green and brown that curl and dance together in his irises so beautifully.

​"Something upsetting you?" He pouts a little, scanning my face.

​I huff out a sigh, pressing at the creases in a pair of trousers. "Why are you down here? I have a mountain of your laundry to get done."

​I don't mean to be short with him. I find myself more disappointed than not these days, especially since he never seeks me out just to talk anymore. It's easy to miss the explosive few months when he was first seducing me.

When I was the primary focus of his attention, which was a heady feeling.

​"Other than to admire you." His smile vanishes abruptly. "I just needed to get away from everyone for a moment." He sighs roughly, rubbing his brow.

I observe him carefully, very used to hearing him vent. He doesn't have any friends, just those who work below him. "What's going on?"

​"Alpha Zev is hosting his annual party tonight. I can't help but wonder what number of pack members I'll lose to his siren's call," he grumbles, murderous tension emanating from his tone.

​I shrug loosely. I know so little about Alpha Zev and his mystical parties other than they happen every year, and have done since he became Alpha of the pack neighbouring Bradley's.

​"Very few, I'm sure," I say tightly.

​Nobody winds Bradley up quite like his rival. Zev is a force, and although I've never seen him before, he's renowned for his strength and beauty.

​"You don't know the seduction of his parties.., of him." Bradley gestures vividly with his hands, his face reddening. "Weak people fall for it, and find no better lives for themselves in his pack."

​I don't bring up that the immigration rate from Zev's pack to his is significantly less than the other way around. Why people choose to leave here and stay in Zev's pack, I'm not sure, but I'm certain this goes further than an irresistible siren call.

​"You really hate him, don't you?" I eye him carefully as I fold a pair of socks into each other.

​"I despise everything about him," he snaps. "Nothing is serious to him. Life is sex and parties and more sex to him. Despite having no substance to speak of, women fall at his feet, entranced by him."

​When he looks away, I smile wryly. I am also familiar with the heady seductive techniques of an Alpha.

​"He leads a very strong pack, though. Stronger than yours, if I remember."

​"That is conjecture," he corrects sharply. "He knows his politics, certainly, but I'll find his weakness eventually."

​My father has told me as much. Bradley knows Zev is a threat to him, and he's so absorbed with the drive to end him that he can't think clearly. He smothers important meetings with his temper, hindering any progress in strategizing.

​"Perhaps seeking peace, or even neutrality…"

​He holds his hand up, cutting me off. "This is all beyond you, sweetheart. Do not worry."

​"My father is your war advisor. I know a great deal about politics." I grit my teeth, pain lancing through my jaw. My father often confides in me when a difficult issue arises, and there have been times when I've found a viable solution. Unfortunately, Bradley's opinion of me has already been formed.

​"I don't pay you for that. I pay you to be pretty and wander around my house as a beautiful temptation for me to gaze upon." He flicks my nose.

​I swat him away. "You pay me to clean for you."

​"Right." He shakes his head a little. "I also forgot to mention one small matter."

​"What?" I steady the precariously balanced tower of folded clothing that I've been continuously adding to. If it tipped over, it may very well be my last straw.

​"I shall be looking for someone to marry very soon. I believe it will strengthen my pack and prepare them for an heir."

​My hands freeze in place, the sewn edges of a shirt hem balanced between my fingertips. I know I'm a hopeless fool, but my heart races in anticipation. Is this where Bradley finally comes to his senses and lifts me from a place of servitude and makes me his wife? Will I finally become his equal? Will he finally prove how much he loves me?

​"Really?" My voice trembles a little as I gaze up at him

.

​He shifts behind me, wrapping his arms around me as he rests his chin on my shoulder.

​"But just because I'm looking for a noble woman doesn't mean I want what goes on between us to stop." He nuzzles his face into my neck, pressing kisses to my flushed skin. "I very much enjoy our time together."

​The weight of the disappointment is crushing. I would sink to the floor were I not used to this feeling. It's so familiar it's almost depressingly comforting.

​"Oh."

​"Perhaps one day, far down the line, I'll even take you as my mistress." He nips at my skin, but the sensation is dull and subdued.

​I slip from his grasp, trying not to wear my mortification. There is nothing more disenchanting than an erroneous assumption, and suddenly our relationship feels like a tattered mess.

​"And if I'm married by then?" I bite out.

​"You won't be." He winks, and instead of being charming, it's wounding. "I'll make sure of it."

​I'm sure he would. Despite not entertaining other lovers, nor wanting me to, he won't make our relationship serious enough to prevent me from being with someone else.

​A thick lump has gathered in my throat as I attempt to suppress a rising tide of emotion. "You're the only man I've ever been with, Bradley. At some point…"

​"That's just how I like it." He presses a firm kiss to my cheek before backing off. "Stay late tonight? I need to be inside of you again."

​Words I may have once thought sounded sexy send a shiver of repulsion throughout my body. The excitement of being with an Alpha is finally starting to wear off.

​"Do you actually want to have sex with me, or do you just want to stop thinking about Zev?" I question as he sweeps to the exit, peeking his head out the door to ensure no one is approaching.

​"Can't it be both?" He drapes his stare downward, right across my breasts that are safely concealed behind stiff grey material. "Say yes and I'll worship your body all night. I'll even do that thing with my tongue that you like."

​I shake my head. "I'm on my period."

​I'm not, but I'm not in the mood to be harassed by him tonight. In fact, I'm not sure I'm ever going to be in the mood for a night with him again.

​"Oh, never mind." His face screws up in disgust and he shudders. "Goodbye then."

​"Goodbye."

​He slips from the door, leaving as silently as he arrived.

​It's only until his footsteps vanish into the distance that I sink down into a crouch. My head rests in my hands as a silent sob trembles through my body. I'm just a fool to him. I mean nothing. He's stolen away my ability to adhere to the stringent values of this pack carelessly, wanting to keep me for himself without actually granting me monogamy.

​I'm done with him. I'm not lesser than, and I sure as shit don't give a damn about values he doesn't even adhere to. I want something new, something fun. Something far away from him.

​I'm going to go to Alpha Zev's party.

​The idea blooms in my mind, daring me to indulge. It seems the decision has already been made, like fate isn't playing passively anymore.

​Wiping the back of my hand against my cheek, I stand, resuming my work.

A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you love this new book.

Poured a lot of time into this so I'll greatly appreciate your support and I hope you enjoy😉