Alpha Dominated (The Dixon Brothers Book 3) Read online

  “Public displays of affection,” she says with a sad smile.

  “Not going to happen,” he growls. “Especially with you looking so sexy all bred with my twins.”

  I turn away as they kiss. My bear growls.

  I might be taking it better than Jacob, but my bear isn’t. He’s starting to go stir crazy inside of me while we wait for her to show up.

  All last night throughout the rainstorm, he was pacing wildly inside of me, whining and whimpering as I tried to get some sleep.

  “I’m not letting you out now,” I warned him. “It’s fucking raining like crazy.”

  He didn’t listen and kept trying to claw his way out. You’d swear there was an emergency or something he needed to get to.

  “I’ve wasted most of my life without my hands on this girl,” Roman says as he holds Bailey a little tighter. “I don’t ever want to stop touching her.”

  The knife in my heart turns. Where is she?

  I’m thirty-two years old. I’m done waiting. I need her.

  My bear starts growling as he rushes to the surface, desperately trying to get out. Everyone suddenly turns to me as I squeeze my body and clench my jaw, trying to hold him back. I’m in the pool and waves are rippling away from me as I struggle to contain the annoying beast.

  “What’s going on with your bear?” Cameron asks.

  I shake my head and sigh as he slips back down. “He’s been like this since last night. I should probably let him out for some air. It’s been a couple of days.”

  I hop out of the pool and slick my hair back with my hands. Actually, it hasn’t been that long since he’s been out. I let him go hunting yesterday morning. This feels like something else.

  He’s still clawing around inside of me, growling impatiently as I grab my towel and wipe off.

  “Fine,” I grunt as he makes another charge. “Let me get my bathing suit off first you furry asshole.

  “I’ll be back in a bit,” I tell them as I grab my beer. I down the rest of it and then head into the valley.

  Once the house is blocking the girls’ view, I slip off my bathing suit and let him come out.

  He rips out of me in a rage and starts running as I sink down inside.

  What the hell has gotten into him?

  I watch helplessly from inside as he races up the mountain and charges into the forest, running all out.

  After twenty minutes or so of sprinting, I feel the tickle.

  It starts as a tingle in our throat and then lights on fire the closer we get. It’s like acid in our lungs. It’s searing.

  But it feels good.

  It feels like home. It feels like everything we’ve been waiting for.

  It’s her. It must be her.

  Her scent is filling our insides, driving my bear forward. I start urging him on, begging him to get to her.

  Go, I shout as her scent fills me up. Go!

  Chapter Three

  Ivy

  Day two in the tree.

  I’m still hanging. I had pins and needles in my legs all day yesterday, but now they’re just numb. It feels better but I don’t think it is.

  Good news and bad news. The bad news is, I peed myself. The good news is that it got washed away when I got stuck in a rainstorm for about six hours last night.

  I’m wet, cold, tired, hungry, thirsty, and scared.

  I screamed my voice away. It’s a hoarse mess and my throat is burning.

  Nobody heard me except for a curious red squirrel who came to investigate. He screeched at me and ran away. I haven’t seen him since.

  I should have listened to my gut and stayed behind. What was I thinking listening to Kindrie? What a mistake.

  She laughed at me when I said we could die and look at me now. I’ll probably be a hanging skeleton in this old jumpsuit when someone finally finds me.

  Are they even looking? I wouldn’t be surprised if the girls are at the bar right now, ordering another round.

  At least, the sun is up and it’s nice and warm. My jumpsuit is dry but my socks and underwear are still wet underneath. I don’t even want to think about what tonight is going to feel like.

  If the temperature drops, I’ll probably freeze to death.

  My stomach growls with hunger. I haven’t eaten anything in over twenty-four hours. How can I get food? How can I get water?

  Why didn’t I watch 127 Hours? I’m sure James Franco had a bunch of intelligent tricks to get nutrition. I was going to watch it on Netflix, but ended up watching Modern Family instead.

  Screw it.

  I pluck a couple of leaves off a nearby branch and put them in my mouth. Oh, ugh!

  They taste even worse than I thought they would. I can’t eat the others, so I just let them drop and watch them float down to the ground, landing beside my busted-up phone.

  I can’t believe this is my life now. This is what I’ve become.

  I’m never going to get down from this motherfucking tree.

  I’m going to die up here and no one is even going to care.

  I’m twenty years old and I haven’t made a mark on this world. I’ll come and go and no one will even notice.

  I’ve never fallen in love. I haven’t even had a first kiss.

  I’m going to die a virgin up here.

  Crows are going to peck my eyes out and I’ll be stuck in this ugly old jumpsuit for all of eternity.

  A dead eyeless virgin.

  My body shakes as a deep sob racks through it.

  I’m full-on ugly crying and feeling maximum self-pity when a tree shakes in the distance.

  “Hello!” I scream as I wipe the tears out of my eyes. “Over here!”

  My voice sounds like I’ve been smoking two packs a day since I was a toddler. My throat feels like sandpaper.

  But I scream anyway. It’s my only hope.

  “Heeeelllllppppp!!!”

  The shaking trees get closer.

  Oh please…

  It’s probably a couple of hikers. Maybe a park ranger or a rescue team out looking for me.

  I hope they brought a ladder…

  “Over here!”

  I wave my arms and kick my numb legs as the people get closer.

  My heart lifts and then sinks when I see that it’s no rescue party.

  It’s a bear.

  A big one.

  He looks up at me with hungry brown eyes and I gulp, happy for the first time that I’m high up in a tree.

  “Hey, bear!” I yell at it. “Go get some help will you?”

  He huffs out a breath as his eyes leave me. He starts sniffing my phone and then steps toward the trunk.

  “Wait…” I whisper to myself when he stands up and puts his front paws on the tree. Can bears climb trees?

  I start rushing through all the bears I know (Yogi, Winnie the Pooh, the Charmin bears), trying to think if I’ve seen any of them climb a tree.

  “Oh no!” I shout as he starts climbing up the trunk.

  He’s so fast.

  I start trying to sway my body from side to side to get away from him, but all I manage to do is turn myself in a circle and get even more tangled up.

  His heavy breaths send shivers down my spine. He’s getting closer. Closer…

  I thought dying up here in the tree was the worst fate ever, but I would take that any day over being an edible piñata for a freaking Kodiak bear!

  “Go away!” I scream as he rushes up the trunk toward me.

  I suck in a breath and squeeze my eyes shut as his face comes level with mine. He’s so close. I could reach out and touch his thick fur.

  He turns to me, eyes burning into mine, and huffs out a breath. I can feel the heat of it on my cheek.

  “Please don’t eat me,” I whisper.

  Several tense seconds pass. It’s a standoff. Helpless girl vs hungry bear.

  “Oh no,” I gasp when he starts moving around the tree to reach me.

  I close my eyes as his head comes closer. His wet nose touches my neck
and I bite back a scream. He sniffs under my ear, tickling me and sending shivers racing down my body.

  The whole ordeal is terrifying.

  But eventually, he starts to shuffle back down the tree. He never takes his eyes off me as he goes.

  My heart is pounding like crazy.

  How come he didn’t eat me? Do I really smell that bad?

  I keep my eyes locked on him as he gets to the ground and backs up.

  “That’s it,” I whisper to myself. “Back away. Go and steal honey from a wasp’s nest or something. You don’t want to eat me.”

  He starts to shake all over.

  “What the?”

  His body looks like it’s imploding as he convulses violently. With a loud tear, a human male bursts out of him.

  A naked male.

  My heart starts thundering in my chest again as I stare at him in shock. His head is lowered, his big round shoulders heaving up and down with every heavy breath he takes.

  I’m too stunned to think. Too staggered to know if this is a good thing or bad.

  Should I prefer a wild bear or a naked man whose intentions are unclear?

  I gulp as he looks up at me with those same stunning brown eyes the bear had.

  His gaze is piercing. It seizes my core and squeezes it until I can’t breathe.

  Who is this guy?

  He’s gorgeous. A shredded flawless body and a face that makes me think the bear did eat me and I’m now in heaven.

  But I know I’m not in heaven. There’s no way there are wet socks in heaven.

  “Hello!” I shout. “Can you help me?”

  He just stares at me in awe like he’s never seen a girl stuck in a tree before. On second thought, he probably hasn’t…

  “Do you have a phone on you?”

  Stupid question. He’s completely naked. He’d have to have a phone hidden up his… never mind.

  “Do you speak English? Hablo Ingles? Parles Anglais?”

  He runs a hand through his brown hair and lets out a long breath as he watches me. I guess he’s just going to stand there… That’s fine. I got all day.

  I cross my arms and stare back at him.

  “It’s you,” he finally says.

  “Of course it’s me! Who else would it be?!”

  I’m starting to lose patience with this naked creep. Hot or not, he’s not doing a thing to help me. I prefer the bear.

  “What’s your name?”

  “How about you help me down and I’ll tell you?!”

  He snaps out of whatever daze he’s in and starts climbing up the tree. I get an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach as he approaches. He’s so agile and lithe as he grabs one branch after another on the way up.

  My eyes never leave him. Every muscle in his body tightens and flexes as he moves. The view is incredible and it gets better the closer he gets.

  “Hello,” I say shyly when he arrives beside me. I’m trying to keep my eyes on his face and not on the long package hanging between his legs.

  “Tell me your name,” he says in a low deep voice. It’s full of something. Pain, desire, anguish? I can’t tell…

  “I’m Ivy,” I tell him.

  He whispers my name and the sexy sound of it on his lips makes my heart do a little flip.

  This man really is gorgeous. His eyes are so striking and even though I haven’t seen it yet, I can tell his smile is going to be a killer one.

  “My name is Easton,” he says, “and I’m your mate.”

  My face drops. “Your what?”

  “My mate.”

  I force out a smile. I’m too tired and hungry and cranky to deal with this shit.

  “Awesome. Can you get me down?”

  “Right.” He climbs up another couple of feet to check out the harness over my head.

  Okkkaaayyy…

  His cock is right in my face. I could reach out and touch it. Or lick it.

  Instead, I keep my eyes on the ground and only glance at it once. Or twice. Maybe three times, don’t judge.

  “I’m going to break the harness, okay?”

  “Not okay!” I shout. I’m going to fall a hundred feet to the ground if he does that. I could still die or at the very least, it will shatter both of my legs.

  “You have to trust me,” he says in a smooth controlled voice.

  My eyes whip up to his. “I don’t! I don’t trust you. I don’t even know you. We just met and your cock is literally in my face. Don’t break anything. Call the fire department!”

  “Trust me, you don’t want those assholes to help.”

  “If they have a ladder, I do!”

  “It’s going to be fine.”

  “You don’t know that!”

  Oh, God. I’m so high! This is terrifying. Who the hell is this naked freak?

  “On the count of five.”

  “No!”

  “Four.”

  “I’m not giving you permission to do this!”

  “Three.”

  “Please don’t!”

  “Two.”

  “I’ll pay you money!”

  “One.”

  “Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!” I scream loud enough for every critter in the forest to hear as he snaps the harness and I fall down.

  I only fall a foot until he catches me.

  My heart is pounding in my ears as I look up and see what’s happening. He’s holding me up with one hand—the straps of the broken harness wrapped around his fist—while he grips onto the tree with the other.

  “Don’t drop me!” I plead.

  He chuckles. “I’m not going to drop you. You’re my mate.”

  “Oh shit,” I whisper as I squeeze my eyes shut. “This is bad. This is so bad.”

  He laughs as he begins to climb down using only his feet and one hand. I’m dangling down, waiting to fall at any moment.

  But he’s quite capable and incredibly strong.

  I try to race through everything I know about shifters. They heal fast, they’re strong, and they have mates. Wait, did he say I was his mate? Did I hear that correctly?

  I don’t care if he thinks I’m his mate or his guardian angel or his long-lost cousin… He can think whatever he wants as long as he puts my feet on the ground.

  I slowly peel my eyes open and gasp in relief when I see the ground not too far away. I could fall from this height and only twist an ankle. I made it. I survived!

  He carries me down the rest of the way and I start tearing up when my feet hit the dirt.

  “You did it,” I say as I turn to him in shock. “You saved me.”

  “That’s what mates do,” he says with a smile. I knew that smile wouldn’t disappoint. It’s radiant and sends a flood of warmth ballooning through me.

  He looks up at the parachute that’s still caught in the treetops. “What happened?”

  “Oh, it’s the classic story of a dickhead pilot throwing a girl out of a plane miles away from the drop zone.”

  His face twists up as he stares at me. “What?”

  “Forget it,” I say with a huff of breath. “I just need to get back to civilization.”

  “Civilization?”

  “Yeah, you know. Toilets, refrigerators, beds, basically all the stuff we take for granted but can’t live without. I need all that. Desperately.”

  “Come with me, Ivy,” he says as his hand slides onto my shoulder. “I’ll give you everything you need.”

  I want to melt into those big arms and cry against his chest.

  I don’t know if he is my mate, but he’s definitely my gorgeous savior.

  And that’s more than enough for me.

  Chapter Four

  Easton

  My mind is still in shock as I walk with Ivy back to the ranch.

  It’s her. It’s my mate.

  I actually found her.

  I glance over at her for the thousandth time, wondering what I did to get so lucky. She’s perfect in every way.

  A lot of sass and a beautiful ass, that’s h
er. I don’t know how I lived my life this long without her by my side. How did I breathe before I smelled her intoxicating scent? How could I sleep knowing she was in the world without me? How could I eat with my stomach constantly in knots?

  It makes me antsy and shaky all over just thinking about being apart from her now. I don’t know how I did it.

  It doesn’t matter. She’s here now and I’m keeping her.

  This little beauty is not getting away from me without a fight.

  I’m not letting my one and only mate go.

  “How long were you up there?” I ask as we walk.

  I’ve never been so full of energy, but she looks tired and weak. My girl needs a hot bath, a warm meal, and a nice long nap. I’ll give it to her. I’ll give her anything she desires.

  “Since yesterday,” she says with a sigh.

  “Yesterday!?” I feel sick. My mate was up there needing me while I was sleeping? I’ll never forgive myself. Then, something worse dawns on me. “But it was raining last night.”

  “I’m quite aware,” she says in a flat voice. “I had a front-row seat to the show.”

  “You must have been freezing. And soaked. And exhausted.”

  “All of the above, yes. It wasn’t fun.”

  “How are you doing now?”

  “Focusing on one step at a time,” she says as she watches the bumpy ground. “I’m happy to be on the ground, but I’ll be even happier in a bed.”

  I don’t ask. I don’t offer. She’s my mate and I’m going to give her what she needs.

  “Hey!” she shouts as I scoop her up in my arms. “What are you doing!?”

  She tries to wiggle out of my arms, but she’s not going anywhere.

  “You’re tired,” I whisper to her softly. “I’m carrying you.”

  “You’re naked. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that.”

  I love how defiant she is. How she stares me down with those fierce eyes. Strong-willed women are the best kind and I got myself a firecracker of one.

  “This way you don’t have to see anything,” I say as I cradle her preciously to my chest. “Your eyes can stay above the equator.”

  She sighs as she melts into my arms. Even firecrackers need rest sometimes. Even strong-willed women need someone to lean onto from time to time. I’m glad I can be that for her.