BDH6

“The Alpha will allow you to spend the night as it’s late. First thing in the morning you are to leave the Vanderbilt Castle.”

The person who tells me this is someone from the Vanderbilt pack. The guy has a bald head and blue eyes. He’s dressed in all black. He’s a black boy with a handsome defined face. His head is bald. He has big sexy looking lips that part as he stares at me and pearly white teeth. He has that same Vanderbilt attraction to him but clearly he isn’t as aggressive as most of the others. I’ve seen him with a more aggressive wolf. It’s clear he’s one of the Beta wolves of the Vanderbilt pack.

The man with the blue eyes doesn’t just say this to me alone. I’m standing in the foyer. It’s the middle of the night but some of the boys have come out of the common area to hear what the commotion is about. Among them are Ian, Johan, Matty, Prince and even Karamo.

Ian’s smile is the sickest when he hears what the Vanderbilt is telling me.

I look over and realize the only way up the stairs to my room is through Ian and his fucking cronies. Ian, Johan and Matty lean up against the stairs watching me the entire time.

“I guess the boy pussy was garbage,” Ian tells Johan.

“Look at him. I’m surprised he wasn’t the first one eliminated,” Johan responds.

At that point Ian, Johan and Matty start laughing amongst themselves. They are talking loud enough for me to hear them. They are doing this on purpose. My face blushes red as all the boys look at me. I feel like the biggest fucking loser right now. I was barely dressed, drenched in sweat and now I was being made fun of.

If Ian and his boys weren’t enough Prince literally puts his hand on me, “Don’t beat yourself up. This isn’t for everyone.”

I don’t know what’s worse. Ian and his friends being evil or Prince being condescending. I realize it hurts more with Prince being condescending. I push past Prince making sure that he doesn’t touch me. I hate the idea of being around him. He pisses me off so badly. Me pulling away causes Ian and the others to laugh at me even harder. Walking up the steps I turn back to see my peers laughing at me. The only one who isn’t laughing is Prince and Karamo. Karamo looks sad. He feels bad for me. He probably realizes I didn’t stand a chance too.

I never stood a chance.

By the time I get to my room I’m a broken person. Tears are streaming down my fucking face. I don’t know why the fuck I’m crying. I don’t know why it hurts so bad. The idea of being rejected so openly is sick. What was wrong with my lips that Walid didn’t want to touch them? What was wrong with my kiss that it wasn’t good enough for him?

“Wh---what’s wrong?” Dakota states when he sees me crying in the corner of my room later that night. He doesn’t knock when he enters the room. His face softens when he sees me like this. No matter how strict and aloof he used to be right now I know that he actually cares.

I think this is what hurts the most. Having to look up at Dakota and let him know that he’s wasted his time. He should have never believed in me. I wasn’t like the rest of these boys. I wasn’t as beautiful. I wasn’t as sexy. I wasn’t as passive.

I shake my head and stare away, “I was eliminated. He doesn’t want me…I’m not good enough.”

Then I start to cry again. I should have never assumed I was. I don’t know what it was about Walid that made me so excited in the first place. The guy was an Alpha. He was out of my league.

Dakota slowly kneels down next to me, “Then he’s an idiot.”

At that moment Dakota holds me. He lets me cry all through the night.

When I wake up in the morning the words Bad Sex has been etched in my door courtesy of Ian, Johan and Matty. They don’t hide it. They are literally standing at the end of the hallway waiting to see my expression when I see it. Then comes the laughter. The cruel laughter of bullies ready to kick you when you’re down.

“I’m eliminated,” I tell them, “I’m not a fucking threat to you anymore. Why are you being so fucking bitter?”

Ian walks over to me. They are in their morning robes. The three of them look beautiful and I think they know it. They are beyond comfortable in these expensive robes, comfortable slippers and hot chocolate. They know they aren’t going anywhere for a very long time.

“You were never a threat…” Ian tells me, “You’ve always been a joke. You’ll always be a joke and you’ll die a joke. So you should be on your way don’t you think. Here, wait here’s a parting gift from me to you. You look like shit already so how about I just make you brown.”

Ian takes his hot chocolate and leans it over my head. He pours the entire cup on me. When the hot liquid drips into my hair I’m thinking that this couldn’t possibly really be happening. This boy really couldn’t possibly be doing this to me.

“Ha, Ian look. You said he looks like shit and now look…his eyes are pissing,” Matty responds.

I’m crying. The tears fill my eyes. My face burns. I feel so shocked that it happened that I don’t even wipe off the hot chocolate. I just stand there in shock that they won’t just let me leave. A part of me wants to turn into a wolf right here and right now. I just want to fight. Ian and his friends are watching me intently though. Three against 1. They would like nothing more than to see me try. In fact, Ian is staring at me waiting for me to make my move.

“You just going to let me do that to you?” Ian says, “Make a move…”

“So you can gang up on me?” I ask.

“He’s such a pussy,” Matty says.

I roll my eyes. How tough would he be talking if he didn’t have Ian to back him up? Matty and Johan were fucking pathetic. The two of them didn’t even really have personalities. They were just extensions of Ian. They were the true definition of followers. Neither of them ever came at me alone to talk their shit. They always waited until Ian was around so they had a leader. Yet he had the nerve to call me a pussy.

“You might as well just let us put you out of your misery,” Ian states, shoving me hard into the door, “Give us a reason. Give us a reason to tear you apart.”

Matty shoves me into Johan. Johan uses his foot to kick me away from him. I fall onto the ground hard and Ian lunges and spit at me.

It lands on the back of my head.

I stare at the ground. The wolf is coming out. I know what they want. They want me to change so they can have a reason to kill me before I leave this place. They want to tell the Alpha I attacked them so it was just self defense. Right now I am ready to grant them their wish.

All I wanted to do was leave this hell hole in peace. All I wanted to do was leave…

“Enough!” a voice says at the end of the hallway.

It’s Dakota luckily. He’s breathing heavy ready to change into a wolf as well if necessary. Even with just 1 more wolf to back me I can see the three of them all of a sudden start to wonder if a fight is necessary. Matty and Johan turn to Ian and look to him for leadership. That isn’t a surprise. They don’t have brains of their own.

Ian signals his goons to stand down, “When I become Walid’s beta and husband…I’ll make sure to have him rip your throat out for my wedding gift.”

They walk away from me and head back into a room before shutting the door and locking it. I am so embarrassed and pissed. I should have changed. I should have just let them gang up on me. What the fuck was the point of letting these people walk over me. First Walid rejected me and now these fucking assholes were fucking with me, for no real reason.

“Are you OK?” Dakota asks me.

I don’t answer Dakota. I shake him off at that moment and run into my bedroom to get my bags. Fuck this place. Fuck these people and fuck this place. I didn’t need to be here. I didn’t want to be here. This wasn’t going to be my life by any means.

All I wanted to do was be a wolf. I wanted to run wild. I wanted to run in the thick Vanderbilt woods. I didn’t want much. I just wanted to be left alone. I guess I was never going to get any of that. I was going back to the overcrowded city of Pittsburgh.

I grab my bags and start heading out.

“Are we riding in separate cars or what?” I ask Dakota.

Dakota doesn’t even have his bags packed. I’m confused. He looks over to me and shakes his head, “The Alpha would like to speak to you.”

Fuck is there to speak about?

“I’ll pass.”

Dakota gives me a hard look, “You can’t say no to the Alpha.”

“Watch me.”

I grab my bags and start heading down the hallway. Dakota is at my feet like a wild dog attempting to stop me. I don’t listen to a word he’s saying. Nothing he is saying even enter my ears. Right now I’m so mad and disgusted at myself for coming here that I can’t think right. I need to get away. I need to make sure that I never have to deal with this shit ever again.

I make my way down the grand staircase with Dakota still behind me but I’m surprised to see Walid standing at the bottom of the steps. He’s alone. It’s really strange for this castle honestly. Usually the Vanderbilt Pack is running around. If not, then the staff is running around. If the staff isn’t running around, then the Betas are standing around looking pretty and gossiping. Right now though the castle was completely empty. There wasn’t a soul in this place.

“Excuse me…” I tell Walid.

Walid grabs onto my arm, “Stop.”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I tell him.

I try to pull away but it’s no use. This guy isn’t Dakota. His grip is something serious. Dakota was strong but Walid was on a whole different level. His strength was this freakish kind of strength. It was a little bit scary to say the least.

“I’m going to pretend like I didn’t hear you disrespecting me,” Walid states holding firmly onto my arm.

“You want me to do it again?” I ask him.

Dakota attempts to calm me down, “Yas…don’t…”

Walid surprisingly turns to Dakota and gives him a hard stare, “I need to be left alone with Yas right now. I need to talk to him. Privately.”

I’m surprised when Walid says that. I think Dakota is surprised as well. Dakota was my guardian. There should be nothing Walid needed to say to me that Dakota couldn’t hear. Walid stares at Dakota until he leaves the room. Walid gets real quiet and patiently waits until Dakota is well out of earshot before he turns his attention to me once more. He wants to make sure that Dakota is nowhere around before he continues talking.

“Why do you smell like hot chocolate?” he asks me out of nowhere.

I roll my eyes. I have no time to stand here and make small talk with him.

“Was there a reason you have this crazy ass grip on my arm?” I ask him.

“I don’t want you to leave,” Walid states.

I raise my eyebrows. I’m a little confused. I was expecting Walid to start some bullshit about how I disrespected him again. I figured he didn’t get his pride expressed enough last night. I felt like maybe he wanted to stab me a couple times before I left like Ian and his boys. That wasn’t the tone that Walid was striking right now. Walid seemed…calmer and a little less abrasive.

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” he explains, “I spoke last night out of emotion. I wasn’t expecting for you to kiss me. No one ever kisses me. Your guardian should have warned you. This is his fault…”

This is laughable. It is beyond laughable.

“You’re blaming Dakota? For my decision to kiss you?” I ask shaking my head, “I figured well maybe the fact that the two of us were probably about to have sex that I had the right to fucking kiss you.”

“I don’t do kisses. I don’t do sleeping in the same bed with someone else. I don’t do romance,” he explains to me, “I should have made that clear to everyone on the very first day. So what I’m trying to say is---I forgive you for not knowing.”

He’s saying this with a straight face. The scary part about Walid is that he has no idea that he is being offensive right now. It’s sad and a little strange.

I don’t even know how to respond besides saying, “I’m leaving.”

“I said –no. What part of no don’t you understand?” Walid asks me.

“I don’t understand a lot of shit coming out of your mouth,” I tell Walid, “And clearly you don’t understand me. I didn’t sign up to be your personal slave.”

Walid takes a deep breath,” Whoa. Wait. I never asked you to be my personal slave. If I make you my beta, I’ll give you anything that you want. Anything.”

“I want a relationship.”

“That’s what I can offer.”

“A relationship without kissing? Without sleeping in the same bed? Without romance?” I ask.

“We’re wolves,” Walid responds, “And I’m a special kind of wolf. You do realize that I’m going out of my way to ask you to stay. This isn’t something I normally do. I never change my mind. This isn’t normal for me.”

A part of me understands that Walid is trying to put emphasis on the fact that this is unusual for him. I can’t help but to see a more human side of him right now. I believe him. I believe that he doesn’t do this for everyone. I believe that he is really going out of his way to prove that he would like me to stay. He is trying his best to get me to stay but still keep hold of his masculinity, his respect and most of all his dominance.

I can tell he’s yet to let go of my hand. It’s that dominance that he needs so much taking over.

“Then don’t do it,” I suggest, “I’m not going to be disrespected by someone and kicked out just so he can change his mind the next day.”

Walid mutters something.

I don’t get what it is.

“What?”

“You want me to say it again?”

“I didn’t hear it the first time.”

“I said that I apologize,” Walid states.

Walid almost looks like he is in pain right now just to apologize. He literally looks like this is taking the most out of him. He is breathing heavy. He lets the words out through grinding teeth. This beautiful, strong, muscular Adonis for the first time seems not confident in something. Who knew a simple apology was his Achilles’ heel?

“Apologize for what?” I ask.

“You got to be fucking with me.”

“I’m confused. I don’t understand,” I tell him, “Remember. I don’t understand a lot. Help me understand Alpha. Lead me.”

His teeth are clenched. Even with all his tattoos I can see a vein popping out of his neck. I’m actually enjoying this. I’m enjoying seeing this sexy ass guy actually going out of his way to get me to stay here. I have to admit I feel special.

“I apologize…” he starts off takes a deep breath and continues, “For overreacting when I asked you to leave just because you kissed me. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I appreciate it.”

He sighs deeply as though happy this moment has passed. I can’t help but to smile. There was a human under all that muscle after all. Why the fuck am I so attracted to Walid? Why does a smile spread all over my face? I feel like I’ve actually accomplished something. I’ve made the big bad wolf just a little smaller. Walid’s eyes connect with me. I can see in his heart and it’s just for a moment before he quickly jerks his eyes away feeling uncomfortable with the awkwardness of the moment.

“Good. Now go upstairs and unpack.”

My smile gets wider, “Yes…yes sir.”

He finally releases me. I can feel Walid’s sexy eyes watching my ass as I walk back up the stairs. At this moment I’m actually starting to think I can like Walid. I’m actually starting to think that I can deal with him.

“Hey Yaser.”

I love the way he says my full name. Walid’s voice is so deep and enchanting. It sounds like the rumbling of an earthquake. I never heard such a deep masculine tone in my life and hearing my name has never turned me on so much.

“Yes Walid?”

“Don’t let anyone know about this apology either,” he says, “When they come back tell them you begged me to stay and I gave you another chance.”

I stop halfway up the stairs. Just when I was actually starting to really like him all over again he goes and pulls some off the wall kind of shit like this. I turn back to him. My eyes focus on him.

“Excuse me.”

“Don’t tell anyone I gave into you,” he explains, “I can’t look weak. I have enemies. Even in my own pack. The moment I look weak is the moment someone challenges me.”

“I’m not telling anyone that I begged you,” I respond.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You aren’t the only one that has pride Walid. I’m not about to lie to you.”

We were back at ground zero. No. We were lower than even that. I can see the look in Walid’s eyes.

“What the fuck do you have to lose?” Walid asks, “Just lie. This isn’t a game. I fucking apologized to you. I haven’t apologized for anything I’ve ever done since the bones! I fucking APOLOGIZED to you and you still want to be difficult.”

Bones. Where had I heard that before?

“The bones,” I interrupt Walid, “What are you talking about by the bones. What bones?”

Walid gives me a hard look, “I didn’t mention any bones.”

“Yes you did.”

Walid gives me a hard look, “No I didn’t…stop being so stubborn.”

“The Wolf Hunters were talking about bones too. Walid, what bones are they looking for and why?”

Walid changes. His face gets darker. His facial features change. Whatever I’m questioning him about is something that I don’t think he wants to talk about. His eyes get deep and dark. They look at me with this darkness that I can’t explain. It’s so…so dark.

“Maybe you should leave,” Walid tells me.

“Wait are you serious?” I ask.

He nods, slowly, “Yeah.”

I don’t know where it comes from. This time when I get my bags and walk past Walid he doesn’t try to stop me. He doesn’t even acknowledge me. Walid lets me leave and I look back at this beautiful werewolf and think that I’m more confused than ever.

Dakota gets one of the Vanderbilt’s cars and takes me to the airport. The whole time he takes me to the airport he is silent. It isn’t until we pull up to the airport that Dakota looks over at me. He stares at me for a few minutes. I stare back.

“Are you OK?” he asks me.

“I just got eliminated from this,” I stated, “I don’t…understand Walid. He says that you’re to blame for not telling me that he doesn’t like to be kissed.”

Dakota struggles at that moment. He stares down instead of looking at me as though ashamed.

“It is my fault. Walid is…damaged,” he says.

“Damaged?”

“He loved before. The love of his life. His beta was a young wolf named Nasir. Nasir’s brother Qadir challenged Walid. Nasir got in the middle of it and ended up losing his life. Ever since then Walid hasn’t really been able to open up.”

I didn’t know anything about a wolf named Nasir before. I wonder if I would have spoken to Walid differently if I knew about Nasir and his brother Qadir. I guess it made sense now why Walid didn’t want to look weak. He didn’t want to seem weak in front of Qadir.

“So there was never really a shot for Walid to ever have cared about me?” I ask Dakota.

Dakota shakes his head, “No. Never. It’s not you. Trust me. It’s not you. It’s Walid. He’s damaged---beyond repair from losing Nasir.”

I sigh a little bit.

I wished this made me feel better.

“I guess it’s nothing new…”

“What?” Dakota asks me.

“Me wanting someone who doesn’t want me back.”

Dakota shakes his head in disbelief, “Wait…what? Any guy would be lucky to have you…”

“You have no idea do you?”

Dakota raises an eyebrow, “No idea about what?”

I don’t hesitate. It’s now or never. I lean over at that moment. I have to take this chance. I press my lips up against his. I kiss Dakota and it is EVERYTHING that I thought it would be. My palms begin to sweat. My heart begins to race. My entire world just seems to get so much smaller. The only thing that matters is my lips pressed up against his. For a minute I swear I’m kissing him without him interacting.

Then it happens.

Dakota grabs the back of my head. He pulls me in. His tongue enters my mouth. We kiss harder and harder. Our mouths clash with one another over and over. This deep long lust spreads over us.

By the time we’re done kissing I’m panting wanting more.

“Damn,” he says, “Wasn’t expecting that?”

“You never knew?” I ask him.

“I had no idea,” he responds, “I mean ever since I met you I thought you were attractive but your mother always made sure that I knew you were…his…”

He was scared of Walid this whole time. That’s why he never pursued me. Right now though he leans back into me and kisses me again. This time Dakota’s passion is what’s showing. His tongue enters my mouth. My dick is hard as he does it. While he kisses me I can’t help but maneuver his hands over my dick so he can feel what he’s doing to me.

“I want you … right now.”

“I can’t. You’ll miss your flight,” he warns me.

“What? You aren’t coming with me?” I ask Dakota.

I’m confused on what Dakota would still be doing in Vanderbilt territory. I was eliminated. I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand it.

That’s when my worst nightmare comes true.

A knock on the car glass.

“I’m sorry. Your mother arranged something with Walid yesterday upon hearing about your elimination,” Dakota says, “I can’t leave yet. I’ve been tasked as a guardian.”

I am not even looking at Dakota. I notice who is knocking on my glass. It’s my little brother.

“No!”

Yuma has a wild smile. He is so clueless. My little brother is so innocent.

THIS ISN’T HAPPENING! WHY THE FUCK IS MY 18-YEAR-OLD LITTLE BROTHER HERE!

“Yuma is taking your place in the competition,” Dakota tells me.

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com