Bound to the Alpha: Part One Read Online Free

his back, and even through the layers of clothing, Cain was certain that he could feel her hardened nipples grinding against him.
     
    Just when he thought that his cock couldn’t get any stiffer, she began sniffing him. He almost did not recognize what the human was doing when she settled her chin on the crook of his neck. She inhaled softly through her nose, just quick enough to be an intake of breath. He would have left it at that, had she not immediately done it again, the second time longer and far more blatant.
     
    When he finally reached the top, Cain let her detach from his back . He threw his bag over his shoulder and looked both ways, frowning. The narrow dirt road had been carved precariously into the mountainside, and the unblemished snow told him that no cars had passed through in at least two days.
     
    He looked back to the human. She was squinting around the bleak landscape, anxiously shifting her weight from foot to foot. He steeled himself for what was to come.
     
    “You will find the nearest settlement two days north of here,” he told her.
     
    She cocked her head. “Which way is north?”
     
    Cain scowled at her. “How do you not know which direction north is?”
     
    “Because my species invented compasses,” she said flatly. She rubbed her temple. “Look, just point me in the direction and I’ll figure it out.”
     
    Cain moved behind her. “You will follow the road leading up the mountain.” He placed his hands on her arms, lifting them up.  “If it diverges in the day, hold your arms out like this.” He trailed his touch up to the tips of her fingers. They were chilled, and he instinctively closed his hands over hers to warm them. “Do you know the direction the sun rises from?”
     
    “East,” she whispered. He could hear her pulse quickening within her chest.
     
    “Good,” he replied. “You point your right arm to where the sun rises, and your left will face the west.” Cain lowered his head and, taking one final indulgence from the human, inhaled her feminine scent. Her floral fragrance seemed to curl inside of him, making his stomach clench with need.
     
    Speaking softly into her ear, he said, “Do this, and your back will always be to the south” —he lowered one hand, flattening it beneath her chest—“and your front will face the north. Understand?”
     
    “I think so,” she breathed.
     
    Cain stepped back, releasing her from his hold. She turned to stare up at him, and for the first time, he noticed her eyes. She had wide pupils, encased in vivid cobalt and fringed with long, thick lashes. For a moment, Cain could only wonder how just earlier that evening, he had thought that she was plain.
     
    She looked away abruptly, breaking the spell. To the ground, she said, “Thank you. For everything.”
     
    He had no words for her, so Cain stood in place, watching her turn and begin to walk away.
     
    To the south.
     
    Scowling, he trudged up to h er, grabbing her shoulder. “You are going the wrong way.”
     
    She squinted towards the horizon. “Oh. Wait, how do you tell which way is north at night?”
     
    Cain gaped at her, utterly exasperated. “The North Star.”
     
    She threw her hands up, looking equally exasperated. “Well , how do you expect me to see that?”
     
    Cain blinked at her, realization settling in. Her v ision was poor. It was an affliction that he had difficulty comprehending. His experiences with humans were limited only to his necessary forays into their towns and brief, bloody encounters on the battlefield. He had never spent a great deal of time with anyone similarly impaired. To be unable to see the stars, or a predator lurking in the darkness—how could anyone function as such?
     
    Carefully, he turned her towards the north. “That way,” he instructed.
     
    She nodded, her cheeks reddened by the cold. “Okay.” She gave him a weak smile. “Thanks again.”
     
    Cain watched as she plodded her way up the road, until she