Ruin Me, Alpha-Chapter 12: Wet Dreams and Cedar

I could not see him in the dark and I know he could. My power had gotten so weak ever since my title dropped, all thanks to the bastard standing in front of me. I couldn’t even detect his scent till he was before the door.

"Go away," I barked into the dark.

"I was preparing for the unification ceremony and you won’t just leave my mind. Turns out you were having wet dreams about yours truly." His tone held a smirk.

Wait. How did he know I was dreaming of him?

"Just leave, Devon. I’m not in the mood to engage in any exchange with you."

I hear a rustling from across the room. It sounded like he was relaxing onto something. "Right. The only exchange we should be engaging in is your cum coating my cock and mine emptying inside you."

I sighed, exhausted from his erotic fantasies. And also frustrated at the throb that I felt with his scent of cedar and power suffocating me. "Just go, Devon. I really don’t feel like seeing your face."

He stepped into the moonlight, his silver bracelet is the first thing I notice then, his black shirt and slicked back jet black hair. And his enchanting looks....

I scramble upright, back pressed to the wall. "Get out, Alpha Devon."

He doesn’t. He walks forward until he stepped back into the darkness with me, his face mere inches from me and I could now see his face clearly.

"How do you feel about that dream?"

"None of your business." I spat.

"You were riding me, weren’t you?"

My face burns. "Get out."

He looks down, eyes pinned on the lacy hem of my nighties short. "You are wet, aren’t you?"

I scoffed. "Wet? For you? Over my dead body."

"You always say things that contradicts your actions."

"Get over yourself, Alpha Devon. I will never find you attractive again. Not now, not tomorrow, not in the future."

He tilted his head, a smirk playing on his face. "Should we put that to test?"

"Sure." My heart pounded. Was I getting into a fight I wouldn’t win?

"I’ll make you cum, without touching you."

The words rolled off his tongue like aged whiskey, it were smooth, dark, and laced with danger. Devon didn’t move, arms folded, breath fanning my face, the sleeves of his black shirt rolled just enough to reveal the corded strength of his forearms. My hand hitched to stretch and touch. The room was dim, only the low amber light from the bedside lamp behind us brightened the room and the moonlight filtering to the center.

I stood my ground, still pinned into the corner, chin high, thighs pressed tight together.

"You’re delusional." I spat.

"Am I?" His voice dropped, velvet and smoke. "Then why are you already breathing like that, Irene? You have been pressing your thighs together since I walked in."

I swallowed, unable to beat the allegations.

I hated that he was right. My chest rose too fast, too shallow. I forced a laugh. "I am not doing that for you."

I released my thigh immediately, biting down on my lower lip when I felt that sharp throb in my entrance.

I am going to fight this.

His eyes, those unfair, molten silver eyes, drifted down my body with deliberate slowness. Not a single finger lifted, yet I felt the path he traced like a brand: throat, collarbone, the swell of my breasts beneath silk, the dip of my waist, lower. When he reached the hem of my shorts, his gaze lingered between my thighs as if he could see straight through the fabric.

"Your taste was divine that night," he said, his words soft as a lover’s request and twice as lethal.

I didn’t say anything to that so he continued.

"The swell of your breast was perfect as they bounced to my thrust rhythms." He breathed.

Oh my god. Oh my god...

"The slaps of your breast were also music to my ears and I knew I had to thrust faster if I wanted the melodic slaps of your breast to grow even louder."

No. No. No.

"And your pretty, rosy lips spreading apart as my length stretched you wider and faster."

"Stop," I bit, feeling my climax build.

Devon’s tongue touched his lower lip, a slow drag that made my knees want to buckle. "You’re imagining it right now, aren’t you?" he murmured. "My mouth on you. Not polite. Not gentle. I know you want a repeat of that night. Your lips might not speak it but your body speaks it."

He paused, "And, all you have to do is ask. "Devon, fuck me, please." Like that."

I fisted my palm, gritting my teeth to stop the whimper that threatened to escape.

"And, I would, Irene, you have no idea. I would fuck you and fuck all that hatred for me out of you."

He suddenly starts taking a step back, a smirk playing on his lips.

Was he leaving?

He reaches the door way and I pretend to not care that he was finally leaving, darting my gaze away from him. Immediately I hear the door open and slam close, my finger travel to my entrance, dipping in only slightly to nudge at the orgasm, my head thrown down.

It rippled out immediately, trickling down my thighs and soaking my short, my breath catching, an helpless moan pouring though my lips and a, "Oh, fuck," following thereafter.

Suddenly, I hear a dark chuckle from the end of the room that made me flinch. "That’s my good girl." He whispered.

I slowly raised my face, freezing as my gaze caught him standing by the door way, leaning agaisnt the door, hands in pocket, eyes watching me hungrily.

He hadn’t left all along?

The morning sun is already high when I drag myself out of my tiny room that still smells like him, like cedar and smoke and raw power. My thighs ache. My pride aches worse. I hate that I came on my own fingers while he watched. I hate that he knew I would.

Outside the Omega quarters the air is charged with excitement. Axes thud into wood. Water slaps against washboards. Voices rise and fall like birds.

"Did you hear? Alpha Devon invited wolves from three other packs for tonight!"

"Even some from Silvercrest are coming back for the unification ceremony. They say the hall’s dripping in silver and blue silk."

"Best attire, the invitation said! I’m wearing the dress I saved for my mating ceremony."

"You do realize we are only going there to serve, right?"

I keep my head down, hauling a basket of wet sheets toward the line. Brielle spots me instantly.

"Irene!" She drops her laundry and jogs over. "You look like death. Did you sleep at all?"

I grunt. That’s answer enough.

Jasper—Brielle’s older brother, all freckles and easy smiles—comes bounding across the yard waving a thick cream card. "Listen up, everyone!" he shouts. Omegas pause mid-chop, mid-scrub. "The Alpha sent these himself. Every single Omega is invited to the unification ceremony tonight. Not to serve but to attend as guests!"

Cheers explode. Someone whoops. A girl near me actually starts crying.

Jasper flips the card open and reads aloud, voice booming with pride. "By order of Alpha Devon Warner, all pack members, regardless of rank, shall attend the unification ceremony in their finest attire. This night marks a new beginning for Ironfang and Silvercrest alike. Come celebrate the strength of the united North."

More cheering. Someone starts singing the old pack song. I pin a sheet so hard the peg snaps in my fingers.

Brielle nudges me. "You’re coming, right? Irene?"

"No."

I turn and walk away before she can argue. Inside our wooden bungalow I slam the door, drop the basket, and collapse face-first onto the mattress in my room. The scent of last night is still on the sheets. My stomach flips.

I shift to sit—and feel something crinkle beneath me. Paper.

I yank it out. Thick cream card. Gold lettering.

Special invitation from Alpha Devon Warner

You are personally requested at the after-ceremony celebration.

Venue: My penthouse. Midnight.

Come alone.

—D

My hands shake with rage. I tear it once, twice, again and again until only confetti remains. I hurl the pieces into the bin so hard the whole thing tips over.

He thinks he owns me. He thinks one orgasm and a murdered Ryan means I’ll come crawling.

Never.

Afternoon finds me walking the woods with Jasper because Brielle begged me to "get some air before you explode." He chatters beside me, kicking pinecones.

"You should come tonight, Irene. Everyone’s going. Even the old grannies are digging out their pearls."

"I said no."

He sighs. "It’s not about him. It’s about us. We finally get to stand in the hall like we belong there. We finally get to attend parties involving the Pack. We’ve never had this privilege."

I stop walking. "Jasper, drop it."

He opens his mouth then freezes. His gaze slides past me and widens.

I smell cedar before I turn.

Devon leans against a towering pine twenty feet away, arms folded, black coat open to reveal a white shirt, first five buttons left undone, despite the chill. His eyes lock on me like a sniper’s scope. Cool. Patient. Terrifying.

"Jasper," I snap without looking away from Devon, "leave. Now."

"But—"

I shove him hard in the chest. "Go!"

He stumbles back, glances once more at the Alpha, then bolts.

Devon pushes off the tree and stalks forward. Slow and deliberate. The forest goes quiet; even the birds shut up. Like standing at attention to his presence.

I drop my gaze to his boots. I can’t look at his face. Not after last night. Not after I moaned for him like a bitch in heat.

"Did you get my invitation?" His voice is low, amused.

"I tore it up."

He stops a foot away. Close enough that his scent floods my lungs. Close enough that I feel the heat rolling off him. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Pity," he murmurs. "Gideon’s been working himself ragged lately. Ever since I mentioned—casually—that he might lose his rank if he keeps sneaking off to see you every hour."

My head snaps up before I can stop it. His silver eyes glitter.

Shock slams into me, followed by the sour taste of inevitability. Gideon had been distant the past week. Quieter. I thought he was busy with merger duties.

"You threatened Gideon?"

Devon tilts his head, that infuriating half-smirk carving his face. "It was almost sweet, how quickly he obeyed. Turns out his entire future rests in my palm." He opens one hand, turns it slowly, examining it like he can see Gideon’s throat lying across his lifeline. The message is clear: I’ll bring him down if you don’t listen to me.

I swallow hard. "You’re a monster."

"And you’re trembling." He steps closer until the toes of his boots touch mine. "Midnight, Irene. After the speeches and the toasts and the pretty lies about unity. My penthouse. Door will be unlocked."

He lifts a hand. I flinch. He only brushes a stray leaf from my hair, fingers lingering at my temple.

"I’ll wait," he says softly. "I’m very patient when I know I’ll win."

Then he turns and walks away, coat flaring like wings. The forest exhales only after he’s gone.

I stand there shaking for a long time.

Brielle finds me an hour later sitting on a fallen log, staring at nothing.

"You missed lunch," she says, dropping beside me. "And you look like someone walked over your grave."

I laugh, but it comes out cracked. "He’ll relief Gideon his position if I don’t go to him tonight."

She goes very still. "He said that?"

"He didn’t have to." I dig my nails into the bark until they bleed. "He showed me exactly how easy it is to crush someone I care about. Ryan was just the demonstration."

Brielle’s hand covers mine. "Then we think. We plan. We don’t just—"

"There is no we in his penthouse at midnight, Brielle." My voice breaks. "It’s just me and him and whatever sick thing he wants to do to me."

She squeezes tight. "You’re not alone. You’re never alone.

I want to believe her.

But when the moon rises tonight, fat and silver over the pack house, I know exactly where I’ll be.

Walking straight into the monster’s den.

Because he didn’t leave me any other choice.