The Alpha's Ardor by Rebecca Brochu Read Free Book Online Page A

back against the wall of his room and let himself sink to the floor.
    “I can’t do that, Lach. You know I can’t. You’re always going to be with me no matter what. I can’t think like that. I won’t.” The very idea of it sent his wolf to howling in denial. To even imagine what his life would be like without Lachlan, his twin, his brother and his pack mate, was unthinkable.
    “Declan, I know how you are! If you think for a second there might be some kind of risk to me you’ll write it all off no matter how much you want it. I feel the same way about you. That’s why I’m asking you to tell me what you want. Are you willing to take the chance that this might not work? Is he worth that?” Declan forced himself to take a deep breath and to really, truly do what Lachlan was asking him to do. His twin deserved the truth.
    “I think so, Lach. I really do. Or at least I want him to be.”
    Declan tipped his head back against the wall behind him. “He’s just been so good to me, Lach, so gentle and respectful in a way no one has ever been with either of us before. The things he does and says, it’s almost like he’s …” Declan trailed off slowly. He wanted to tell Lachlan, wanted to share it with his twin, but the fear of sounding ridiculous made him pause.
    “Like he’s what, Dec?” Lachlan sounded oddly gentle.
    “Like he’s courting me, Lach, like he’s honest to god courting me.” It all spilled out of Declan in a rush. “He’s scenting me. He does it all of the time, Lach. He touches me so much, nuzzles and even licks me on occasion, and it’s driving me crazy. Both sides of me. My clothes, my bed, my skin, it all smells like him even if he hasn’t been in the room. Hell, the clothes I’m wearing are his . Not extra pack clothes, Lach, not things set aside for visitors or anything like that.
    They’re his.”
    “Do you like it, Dec? Is it … is it even remotely like those other alphas? Like what they wanted from us?” It was something that Declan had already thought about more times than he wanted to admit, something that plagued him.
    “I don’t think so. Or at least I don’t want to think so. I told him about them, that first night I was here. I thought that was what he wanted, that my luck had finally run out and I’d gotten caught. But, Lachlan, you should have seen his face when I said that to him. He was so pissed but not at me.” Declan remembered Law’s fury with an almost sense of awe. “He gave me his word, as alpha, that no harm would come to me. Or to you.”
    Declan heard Lachlan suck in a harsh breath. That kind of promise, that kind of vow, wasn’t given lightly. With wolves, especially with alphas, there was power in those kinds of words. They both knew that Law had to have been serious to invoke a vow like that. The reality of that hit Declan a little late.
    “He swore, Lach. He swore we’d be safe. He gave me his word .” He knew his voice sounded just as awestruck as he felt.
    “Alright, Dec, alright. Stay. I want you to stay there, scope it out, meet the rest of the pack and find out from this alpha of yours just what we’re going to have to give in return. If he gave his word, gave an oath that we’ll be safe then it might not be anything we’re not willing to give.” His voice was steady and strong, and Declan’s heart began to race in his chest because he knew that Lachlan was serious.
    “What about you? Are you going to come? Do you … do you not want to stay here even if it all works out?” Declan felt so vulnerable in the way that he’d always been with Lachlan, in the way that they were with each other. Vulnerable in the way he’d never been with anyone else. Not until Law.
    “Declan! Declan, stop. You know I will, you know I do. We haven’t had a home, somewhere safe, in a long time. If this place can be that for us then I want it too. Especially if it’s what you want. I’ll come, just not right now. I’d like to scout around some more