Home>>read Bound to the Alpha free online

Bound to the Alpha(7)

By:Viola Rivard


Sarah groaned, running a hand through her hair. “I just can’t get anything right with him.”

Hale said, “No one ever tells that pup ‘no’. It’s good for him.”

She gazed at Hale through the fire. “I know. I just hate being the bad guy.”



* * *



When Caim hadn’t returned by breakfast time, Sarah was wracked with guilt. The others assured her that it wasn’t unusual for him to disappear, especially when his father was away. It troubled her even more that no one seemed overly concerned that he was gone, and it took Sarah several hours of nagging before Fern and Jewel agreed to go looking for him.

They were eating their early morning meal in the lower chambers by the time the women returned with a sullen Caim in tow. Sarah tried several times to offer him food, but he lay down by the wall, refusing to acknowledge her.

The women conversed in between stuffing their faces with warm turkey meat. Feeling too sick to eat, Sarah focused on trying to feed Snow. The little girl was being unusually difficult. Sarah experimented with several different cuts of meat, but Snow turned her nose up to them indiscriminately.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Sarah said, waving a chunk of white meat under Snow’s nose. “You have to eat something.”

Her small face reddened with agitation, Snow shook her head furiously. “Don’t like bird,” she fussed.

Sarah pursed her lips. “Yeah, well sometimes we have to eat things we don’t like.”

As she contemplated the ethics of force-feeding a three-year-old, it occurred to Sarah that the room had gone quiet. She glanced up to see the women staring in her direction with varying degrees of surprise.

Sarah scratched the back of her head. “What…” she trailed off, realization finally settling in. She put her hands under Snow’s arms, turning the little girl to face her. With poorly contained excitement, Sarah said, “You talked!”

The other women all began speaking at once, expressing their happiness at the milestone. Even the perpetually sour-faced Meadow looked pleased. Snow gave a delighted cry as Sarah squeezed her into a bear hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” Sarah gushed, planting kisses on Snow’s head.

When the initial excitement had died down a little, everyone took turns trying to get Snow to say something else. Either the pressure was too much, or she was still in a stubborn mood, because despite everyone’s efforts, she just sat in Sarah’s lap, shyly sucking her thumb.

Lotus was particularly tenacious. She sat next to them on crossed legs, still throwing words at Snow long after the others had lost interest.

“What about ‘bird’?” Lotus said, her chin in her hands. “You just said ‘bird’, can’t you just say it again? It’s easy. Say ‘brrrr’ like you’re cold, and then ‘duh’. Come on.”

Snow yawned in response, and Sarah had to bite back her laughter. To Lotus, she said, “It’s pretty late, cupcake. She’s probably just tired. How about you try again tomorrow?”

Lotus gave them both a glum look. “You should try to get her to say something else. She talked for you the first time.”

“I don’t think she was talking for me. She was just frustrated and trying to express herself,” Sarah explained. To prove her point, she craned her head down to meet Snow’s gaze. “Can you say ‘Sarah’ for me?”

As predicted, Snow just stared back at her through sleepy eyes.

Offhandedly, Lotus said, “She should call you ‘mama’.”

Sarah’s head snapped up. Her heart thudding in her chest, she said, “I don’t think that would be appropriate.”

“Why not?” Lotus asked.

“Snow had a mother,” Sarah tried to reason. “I can’t just take her place.”

Lotus shrugged. “Well, maybe Snow wants a new mother. We should ask her if she wants you to be her—”

Anxiety twisted in her gut as Sarah held up a hand to silence Lotus. “I think that’s enough for tonight, Lotus. Snow’s tired. I’m going to go tuck her in.”

Excusing herself from the group, Sarah carried Snow from the room. After several weeks, she knew her way around the dark passageways quite well, and had no trouble making her way to Meadow’s room.

Sarah paused in the doorway. Within the next hour, the others would probably be retiring as well. Communal by nature, the wolves tended to gather in Meadow’s room to sleep, and today Sarah really wanted to be alone. She continued walking, heading for the one room where she was unlikely to be disturbed.

Cain’s room was dark, and the stone floor chilled her toes. Sarah set Snow down on the furs and then fumbled about the room for the matchbook. When she found it, she lit a single candle and placed it in a depression in the wall.