Into His Arms Ch. 04

'Shut it Victor,' he thought as he went to approach the couple, but found she was already moving towards him leaving Ryon at the door. As she approached, he couldn't take his eyes off of her heart shaped face.

Her hair was swept up from her face with little tendrils of curls kissing her temples and one long, springing curl hanging down the side kissing a beauty mark displayed on her collar bone. As she approached, he was captivated by her eyes as they glittered in the foyer lighting. They seemed to try to capture all the light in the house and then spit them right back out of her sockets. He couldn't tell what color they were trying to be tonight, but whatever they were, they were definitely his favorite color regardless.

She stopped right in front of him and he could feel the magnetic pull between them and had to mentally stop himself from reaching out, snatching her into his arms and dragging her upstairs to his bedroom. Now that she was closer he was able to drink in her entire frame.

Her luscious figure was encased in an off the shoulder burgundy gown that brought out the undertones in her eyes and emphasized her skin tone. The top of dress fit her like a glove, flowing down into waves around her ankles. As she walked, her hips swayed back and forth revealing two slits up the sides that were only visible when the folds in her dress shifted. As she moved, the light fabric swung back allowing her bare thighs to peek through. Following the line of her legs down, he saw her shapely calf's were cut short by the ankle straps on her dainty, heel clad feet. His eyes swung back up to the heart shaped neckline that pushed her breasts up and out, as if they were displayed on a platter for his enjoyment.

'What a decadent feast she'd make!' his wolf thought to him.

He smirked thinking back, 'Oh and I AM starving!'

"Ahem... Good evening Alpha Alik," her voice broke his inner musings as it dripped with sarcasm. He paid the slight no mind, his attention now caught on the most succulent pair of burgundy lips he'd ever seen.

'No one should have lips that succulent and still be walking around unmated,' he thought to himself.

'She won't be for long,' his wolf thought back to him and he smirked wider at the images his wolf flashed of her and what those lips would do TO and FOR them.

His eyes snapped back to hers before he rumbled out huskily, "Yes... It is a good evening... I hope the elders haven't kept you TOO busy, where you would be too exhausted to be able to enjoy tonight's... activities?"

She tensed at his words, "I'm sure the FESTIVITIES tonight won't be too strenuous for me, seeing as it IS just dinner and the small ceremony. I am not as out of shape as I look, I will certainly have plenty of energy and then some."

"Well, that is excellent news to hear, seeing as I require a private audience with you after the ceremony tonight," he continued on, seeing her eyes widen as she was about to reject him, "I have some matters that have been brought to my attention that requires your input. I am sorry to be blunt, but the Keeper's position has been vacant for too long and certain matters must be addressed."

"Can this not wait till tomorrow? You are more than welcome to email or send me any information. I will be utilizing my father's old office in town so you can send the documents there."

"I'm afraid this business must be handled today... and in person. It's been put off for weeks seeing as our schedules were always, Ahem... conflicting, so that we could not meet before this point."

She flushed slightly and dropped her eyes down to the side saying quietly, "Well, if these issues were of such importance I'm sure you could've-"

He cut her off smoothly, waving to the head omega to signal everyone into the dining hall, "It is of no significance now what could've been done. We are here together now and the matters will be completed tonight."

She was about to continue arguing with him when the announcement was made for the guests to move into the large dining room across the hall. He extended his arm to her, "Shall we sweets?"

She scowled at him and he couldn't help but take in her features with avid interest. He loved her open face and her unguarded expressions. Even now, with her brows coming together, her pouted lip sticking out at him, looking for all the world like she wanted to ignore his arm and continue their discussion, he couldn't help but be taken with her need to defy him, even when he still smelled a little fear in her scent. Manners took over her in the end, and she lightly placed her fingers on the tip of his elbow.

Before she could pull away, he engulfed her small hand with his and pulled it through his arm so that their arms were intertwined and she was snuggled into his bicep. He felt her sharp intake of breath as he tightened his arm locking her to his side before she had a chance to pull away. She was so close he could feel her entire form against his side. He emitted a low growl when he smelled the faint scent of her arousal when he'd pulled her close. Looking down, he saw her nipples standing up against her dress sending his own body into diamond status instantly. He looked up when he felt her trying to tug away from him and saw her biting her bottom lip, her cheeks flushing and her eyes looking everywhere but at him.

He sighed internally at her attempts to deny the attraction they felt for each other. As they approached the head of the table, he relaxed his arm to pull out her chair moving it to cup her in the small of her back. He felt her shiver as he guided her in front of the seat, but before she could sit he bent and whispered in her ear, "Do not think you will be able to escape me so easily tonight, I will have a taste of your sweetness before this night is over."

Her next yank on her arm succeeded in pulling herself free from him. Ignoring his statement, she hurried to sit down in the proffered chair. As soon as her other neighbor was seated, she quickly turned her back to him to start a conversation with the other man, presenting her back to him and effectively ignoring his presence.

Not one to be ignored, he attempted to engage her in conversation countless times, but each time failed to monopolize her in any type of exchange or even get her to look his way. He was quite impressed with her conversational skills and the way she could speak on many topics and steer the flow of the conversation by including topics others might find interesting. However, he was quickly losing patience at the way she would smoothly twist his pointed questions to her, and include the whole table or their neighbors and guide his topic away from him all together.

It did not help that one of the main recipients of his failed efforts was her bastard of a 'brother'. That he also received her coy glances and adoring smiles, did not lessen the murderous rage he felt for the man. Every time she'd block off a conversation with him, he could see Ryon's weasel of a smile slip across his face as he played her little game, throwing in little inside jokes and personal stories before looking smugly at him. By the time they'd finished the last entree he'd wanted to break all the teeth in his mouth a hundred times over.

Seeing the omega come over again to refill her glass brought him out of his heated state as he saw her toss back another glass of champagne, "I'm glad you find the champagne to your liking, I picked it out with you specifically in mind... But I would caution you to not overindulge as we still have business to attend to later."

He moved take her glass and to signal the attending omega to cut her refills off, but she pulled back away from him saying, "Do you monitor all of your guests as you are doing with me? I can promise you I am more than aware of my limits, and you are the last person at this party that can presume to know anything about me. You should worry about monitoring your OWN self as I've had a close encounter with a sober you and I don't care to find out what your intoxicated personality might do."

He heard a few snickers from her brother across the table and stiffened, "I can assure you that, that will not happen again and it is near impossible for a Lycan to get drunk as our metabolism burns the alcohol faster than we can consume it."

She eyed him for a moment before turning her head and resuming her conversation with Martha and Benjamin across the table. His hands balled into fists on the table as he breathed in deeply and tried to refrain from whipping her back around to face him, knowing he'd give her one hell of a whip lash if he did just that. Instead he unfolded his hands and picked up his utensils, making steady efforts to finish his meal.

He was so inflamed that he couldn't concentrate on the dishes that were paraded before him and wouldn't have tasted the difference between sawdust and the carefully prepared dishes. He'd spent the last week planning this dinner down to a 'T', catering it to her preferences and tastes, trying to win a smile from her for 'guessing' her favorite dishes. He'd been questioning everyone who knew her about her favorite dishes, planning all week for the moment he'd see her tonight and she might look at him with something more than the frightened eyes, shaded with false bravado.

His frustration peaked when even his carefully laid out dessert plan, crashed and burned. He'd learned that her favorite cake company was in the next town over and decided to plan an 'ambush' on her. He'd had it specially brought in for this occasion, wanting to use it as a conversation starter, he had strategically told the omegas to bring them out on dishes that were to be shared with a partner. But in the end she'd been given her own serving as the two elders next to her did not care for sweet things and had given her their share.

He tried shaking the disappointment he felt off, not comfortable with these new emotions of melancholy over failed courting attempts. He'd never been so enraptured by a female where he'd be so wrapped up in what CAKE she might like. He saw Victor out the corner of his eye trying, very poorly, to hide his amusement at his Alpha's situation and felt his frustration reach its pinnacle. Having had enough of her one-sided ignoring game he pushed his plate away, signaling the end of dinner.

As the omegas moved to remove the dessert plates he motioned to Hackett, the elder sitting on Hazels right, who immediately stood to gather the box off of the table behind them. The elder brought it over and placed the item in front of him before moving back to take his seat. He waited for the older man as he sat down before he stood up to start the ceremonial speech. All eyes moved to him as he stood and the room fell into a quick silence. He took his time as he looked over each of his elders and the other guests before he began.

"Since the eve of our creation Luna has always gifted us one Alpha, a leader to protect and guide our people, and one Keeper, a wise man or shaman whom Luna gifted with the knowledge of our creation and the existence of our mystic community. Keepers were not gifted to all Luna's creations, but only to her most trusted of creations and THEN only to her most FAVORED of clans." There was a hum of agreement from some, "The ancient ones call them mystics, for they can look into the book of 'Adiv-i-Otreum' and see marked paths Luna has destined for us. They are the spiritual mediums for our past and future Alphas and have been known to bring those, who have needed it, back from the brink of going berserk."

A low murmur spread as some recounted tales of Alpha's who had went over the edge and needed the Keeper's gift to sooth the rampage of their minds. He held up a hand to quiet them as he continued the history of the Keepers, "They are gifts to be entrusted to very few clans and must be guarded as more precious than even the Alpha. It is very rare for a child of Luna to be gifted with the sensitivity of nature where they can feel her and channel her well enough to be the Keeper. It is rarer still that it is one not of our own blood," He looked down at Hazel as he spoke this and found she was staring at him seemingly enraptured by his words. Reaching out a hand towards her, she grasped it without breaking their eye contact, and he pulled her to her feet to stand a heartbeat away from his side.

Continuing in a low voice he said, "And it is inconceivable that the Keeper that Luna has gifted us with now is this beautiful woman beside me."

She looked down her cheeks flushing at his compliment, as she tried to disengage her hand from his. He squeezed her hand in response causing her to lift her eyes back to his as he brought her hand to his lips. Murmuring just above her flesh and sending goosebumps skittering up her arm, "May I present to you all Miss Hazel Ivy Soroka Keeper of the Czernobog Pack!"

As the table erupted in a standing ovation, he turned her hand over and laid a feather light kiss to the inside of her wrist. Her low whimper was indiscernible to everyone, but him as the table continued with their raucous applause and congratulations amongst each other. He picked up the 'Keepers' insignia ring from the box Hackett had sat in front of him and placed it on her hand.

She shifted her gaze away from him attempting to dislodge herself from his hand, but he intertwined their fingers and shooting a smug look over to Ryon he held their hands up together, saying, "May Luna bless this Union and smile favorably on our clan!"

He stared the younger wolf down, opening up a small mental link he pressed against the other wolf's mind forcing his dominance through it. The younger wolf tried to shake his suppression off by shaking his head, but he pressed harder against the mental link making him bow his head and bare his neck submission. He noticed the slight snarl around his mouth, but dismissed it as his attention was drawn back to the woman at his side who'd just dug her sharp stiletto into his foot. He grunted from the sharp sting that shot up his leg, immediately letting go of her hand, moving slightly behind her to avoid any more attacks.

Placing his hand on the small of her back, he raised his voice above the crowd saying, "Shall we withdraw to the parlor to toast to the health and prosperity of the clan and its Keeper?"

Pushing her around her chair and towards the door, he swept them out of the dining hall before she had the chance to protest. As they entered the parlor, he signaled towards the omega attending beside the bar before guiding her to stand before the lit gas fireplace. Turning her to face the room, she was effectively 'trapped' between the mantle of the fireplace and his body. With his hand at her back and only room for people to approach from the front, he was able to ensure she wouldn't sneak off before he'd had his private meeting with her later.

An omega approached with two champagne glasses, presenting them to her first. She immediately snatched one off of the tray downing it in one go and before he could blink, she'd snatched the other off of the tray and had downed half of it signaling for the omega to bring more.

"Thirsty are we? I should warn you, I wouldn't drink those so quickly, I don't buy that cheap stuff."

"Once again, I'm NOT any of your concern," she sniffed shooting him a scathing side glance. "I'm no child either and I can handle myself."

Before he had a chance to reply they were descended upon by the well-wishers and he was engulfed in business discussions with his guests. He'd been in such a deep discussion about one of the packs subsidiary companies, that he'd failed to notice her brother Ryon approach her until he'd caught a whiff of his scent.

There were very few men in their world who openly defied him and lived to tell about it. The ones that he allowed to live only did so because he had the utmost respect for them and there was a mutual admiration between them. This pup, however, was trying his patience and his wolf paced back and forth in his mind snapping his teeth at the chance to tear into him. From the heated look the bastard was giving his mate, he could tell without even hearing the conversation that it was not about the weather.

'Who does this pup think he is to look at our mate like that!' His wolf howled into his mind and was practically foaming at the mouth when the man leaned down to whisper into her ear. He moved to intervene in their conversation when Ryon sent him a scathing look and a smug smile before walking away and out of the parlor.

'What the hell does he think is so funny?!' his wolf snarled into his mind.

He felt his body shaking from the pent up violence he felt towards the blatantly disrespectful younger wolf. He couldn't believe the audacity of the man to challenge him, his Alpha, in his own home. He wanted to drag him back into the parlor and rip the smirk off his face and feed it back to him. If it wasn't for him being the last 'relative' to his mate and that she'd never forgive him if he killed him, he would have tracked him down and tore his disrespectful ass to shreds.

***Hazel***

She watched Ryon pass through the doorway and sighed, wishing she could go home and crawl into her bed as well. Her feet were killing her and all she wanted to do was take off her heels and throw them into the God forsaken fireplace at her back.

'And who had a fireplace lit in the summer anyway!' she thought to herself growing more agitated.

She turned her back to the room not feeling very social now that Ryon had fled, and in her exhausted state she could care less about some stock trading efforts that might fold. She stared into the fireplace getting lost in thought as she sipped on her 5^th or 6^th glass of champagne since they'd arrived into the parlor, she'd lost track after the 3^rd one. She hated to admit that he'd been right about it being the "good stuff", she downed the rest of her glass while reaching for a replacement as an omega walked by with another tray of the delicious champagne.

"Ahh, I think you've had enough sweets. I want you coherent for our meeting and not passing out before it starts." The Alpha's voice rumbled into her ear, causing her to shivering as his hot breath caressed her skin. She raised her hand to encircle her neck as it blew the loose tendrils of hair, tickling her as they moved.

She tried to swallow over the lump in her throat, "I told you do not concern yourself with me, I know when I've had enough."

She only felt a slight buzz from the drinks, but his close proximity was heightening her nerves. She'd initially downed the first two drinks to bolster her courage. Thinking a few drinks would enforce her weak backbone, she'd known she'd drank one too many when she started disregarding his glowers during dinner. But she needed something to be able to get her through the night, and the guaranteed argument she knew would ensue later when she would confront him on his highhandedness. However, after her 2^nd drink and his snide comments, the following drinks were a combination of spite from his monopolization of her and their delicious flavor.

She'd never tasted champagne quite like this before, it was so light and sweet that she forgot it was actually alcohol, that was until she attempted to put back the empty glass on the tray and missed it completely. She'd also failed to realize, while in her indulgence, all of the guests except for Victor, Benjamin and Martha had left; with the elderly couple exiting the room even as she then realized it.

"Wha... Where..." She looked about alarmed, watching as all the omegas that were previously serving the guests, were carrying empty glasses and champagne bottles out of the room.