Alpha Unmasked: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Greenwood Shifters Book 1) Read Free Page B
Author: S.A. Ravel
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most at ease when they’re having a good time, don’t you find?”
“Sounds charming.”
“It can be. Or don’t you enjoy interclan politics?”
Dirk snorted. “Not at all.”
She covered her disappointment better than Dirk expected, but it was there. At least she was trying to get along with him. Her Alpha must have told her to be on her best behavior.
There was no reason Dirk couldn’t do the same. “I like parties all right, I guess. As long as they don’t go on too long.”
Alex gazed into his eyes for a few seconds as if what he said offered some hidden path into his mind. She sighed and shrugged. “Do you feel anything?”
“Not a damn thing.”
“That’s a shame. It won’t make the first few years of marriage easy.”
“I’m not your mate, Alex.”
“Did your Alpha give you the impression that whether or not we are true mates mattered? Mine didn’t.”
“You’re telling me you want to go through with it?”
“Nobody of our status finds a true mate anymore,” Alex raised her chin, as if she took pride in her status and the rules that came with it. “We’ll get married, and we’ll start our lives together. You’ll work for Daddy. We’ll have beautiful babies, and Daddy will teach them to be Alphas in their own right. The rest will sort itself out. And what doesn’t I’ll sort out for us.”
Alex’s warm smile gave way to a smirk. That was the Alex Tenwick that Dirk remembered, twice as beautiful as all the female shifters in their generation, and twice as cunning. She might have inherited the Alpha position herself if the clan laws allowed it.
He’d be damned if he’d spend a lifetime with her. He wasn’t sure he could bring himself to spend an entire evening with her.
“Places, Mr. Greenwood,” a stagehand said as he passed by.
Dirk leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the exposed portion of Alex’s cheek. If he wanted to get out of this, he had a role to play. He pulled his mask out of his pocket and settled it over his face.
* * *
T he Belmont Hotel had a lot of ambiance and history, but no air conditioning. If Rachel had known, she would have grabbed a stiff piece of paper to use as a fan. But she hadn’t, so the best she could do was try to ignore the beads of sweat as they dripped down her neck and between her breasts. Which was easy, because she was busy moving along the wall of the ballroom, trying to stay out of sight.
The costume mistress won the verbal battle over the corset, despite Rachel’s protests. Every female staff member had to wear one, and no it didn’t matter that Rachel would be behind a table passing out dessert all night. The corset was unforgiving chocolate brown leather that stopped just beneath Rachel’s breasts. Breathing in the contraption wasn’t easy, but it was better than the tug-of-war the dress caused.
Despite the fact that it was in her size, Rachel couldn’t quite manage to make all the thin linen material cover her body at the same time. If she pulled the thigh-high hem down, she lost an inch of fabric from her breasts. If she pulled the dress up to cover her breasts, her mid-thigh peeked out from below the loose miniskirt.
A few male patrons glanced at her as she found a spot near the front of the room. At least from there she could see the stage and ignore the men leering at her exposed cleavage. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned spying on the guests. Still, it wasn’t all bad. Everyone else’s costumes were as beautiful as she’d hoped.
Some of the dancers from downstairs were in the middle of an elaborate piece of choreography. Gasps and scattered applause from the crowd punctuated the performance. From the look of it, the number was an interpretive version of a battle between elves and goblins. Rachel couldn’t help but gasp as the Elf King swung his arm across his body and the Goblin King twirled and fell to the stage. The Goblin Queen knelt beside him as the rest of the goblins stomped and roared in
“Sounds charming.”
“It can be. Or don’t you enjoy interclan politics?”
Dirk snorted. “Not at all.”
She covered her disappointment better than Dirk expected, but it was there. At least she was trying to get along with him. Her Alpha must have told her to be on her best behavior.
There was no reason Dirk couldn’t do the same. “I like parties all right, I guess. As long as they don’t go on too long.”
Alex gazed into his eyes for a few seconds as if what he said offered some hidden path into his mind. She sighed and shrugged. “Do you feel anything?”
“Not a damn thing.”
“That’s a shame. It won’t make the first few years of marriage easy.”
“I’m not your mate, Alex.”
“Did your Alpha give you the impression that whether or not we are true mates mattered? Mine didn’t.”
“You’re telling me you want to go through with it?”
“Nobody of our status finds a true mate anymore,” Alex raised her chin, as if she took pride in her status and the rules that came with it. “We’ll get married, and we’ll start our lives together. You’ll work for Daddy. We’ll have beautiful babies, and Daddy will teach them to be Alphas in their own right. The rest will sort itself out. And what doesn’t I’ll sort out for us.”
Alex’s warm smile gave way to a smirk. That was the Alex Tenwick that Dirk remembered, twice as beautiful as all the female shifters in their generation, and twice as cunning. She might have inherited the Alpha position herself if the clan laws allowed it.
He’d be damned if he’d spend a lifetime with her. He wasn’t sure he could bring himself to spend an entire evening with her.
“Places, Mr. Greenwood,” a stagehand said as he passed by.
Dirk leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the exposed portion of Alex’s cheek. If he wanted to get out of this, he had a role to play. He pulled his mask out of his pocket and settled it over his face.
* * *
T he Belmont Hotel had a lot of ambiance and history, but no air conditioning. If Rachel had known, she would have grabbed a stiff piece of paper to use as a fan. But she hadn’t, so the best she could do was try to ignore the beads of sweat as they dripped down her neck and between her breasts. Which was easy, because she was busy moving along the wall of the ballroom, trying to stay out of sight.
The costume mistress won the verbal battle over the corset, despite Rachel’s protests. Every female staff member had to wear one, and no it didn’t matter that Rachel would be behind a table passing out dessert all night. The corset was unforgiving chocolate brown leather that stopped just beneath Rachel’s breasts. Breathing in the contraption wasn’t easy, but it was better than the tug-of-war the dress caused.
Despite the fact that it was in her size, Rachel couldn’t quite manage to make all the thin linen material cover her body at the same time. If she pulled the thigh-high hem down, she lost an inch of fabric from her breasts. If she pulled the dress up to cover her breasts, her mid-thigh peeked out from below the loose miniskirt.
A few male patrons glanced at her as she found a spot near the front of the room. At least from there she could see the stage and ignore the men leering at her exposed cleavage. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned spying on the guests. Still, it wasn’t all bad. Everyone else’s costumes were as beautiful as she’d hoped.
Some of the dancers from downstairs were in the middle of an elaborate piece of choreography. Gasps and scattered applause from the crowd punctuated the performance. From the look of it, the number was an interpretive version of a battle between elves and goblins. Rachel couldn’t help but gasp as the Elf King swung his arm across his body and the Goblin King twirled and fell to the stage. The Goblin Queen knelt beside him as the rest of the goblins stomped and roared in