Almost as soon as I’d spotted Eric, another man appeared just a little way behind him. From what I could see, this other man, who was tall, well-built, and strong-jawed, appeared just as handsome as Eric. He was dark-haired like Eric, and I’d always found dark hair to be very attractive. Intrigued, I wondered if this man was Eric’s “lieutenant” or something.
When Eric reached me and my traveling group of four, he extended a hand to me, stony-faced. “I’m Eric McCormick, alpha here in Silverfield.”
He struck me as so stiff, so formal. So cold. However, he was so utterly handsome, with gray eyes fringed by thick, dark lashes, that the butterflies in my stomach began rioting.
Willing my rate of breathing to remain normal, I took Eric’s extended hand and shook it. “I’m Ellie Miller, Eric. It’s nice to meet you.”
His hand was firm and warm, which only intensified my butterflies.
Just then, before he could say anything in return, the man who’d been just slightly behind him reached us and extended his hand to me as well. “I’m Ryan Foster, alpha here in Silverfield.”
Suddenly thoroughly confused, I hesitated for a long moment, probably frowning, before breaking my handshake with Eric and taking the hand offered by this second man. “I’m Ellie Miller…and I’m really, really confused.”
To my left, Alicia abruptly piped up, addressing Ryan. “Um, I’m sorry…but who the hell are you, again? And why in the hell are you calling yourself the alpha here in Silverfield? Our alpha…our only alpha…is Eric, and he’s right here.”
While I dropped my hand from Ryan’s, Eric cleared his throat and spoke to Alicia, looking deeply uncomfortable. “Some things have changed during the twenty-four hours that you, Mark, and Tom have been gone. In short, our shifter group has joined forces with Ryan’s, and he and his people have joined us living in Silverfield. So, we have two alphas of this community now. Ryan and I have agreed on that.”
With her big brown eyes wide, Alicia made a delayed gasp just a second after Eric had finished speaking. “Just what on earth-”
“We needed the numbers, Alicia.” Still looking deeply uncomfortable, Eric raked a hand though his thick, dark hair, breaking eye contact with Alicia. “As you’re well aware, we’ve had Creepers nearly knocking down our walls lately. Our strength in defense lies in numbers, and Ryan’s group has nearly doubled our community, adding a hundred and ten men, twenty-one women, and a few dozen children to our community. These people will make our community stronger…and they’ll help ensure that we’ll survive, all of us.”
With her eyes still wide, Alicia scoffed. “Well, do we all still get to keep our own houses? Because Mark and I really like the privacy of our own-”
“Yes.” Eric raked a hand through his hair again. “Everyone gets to keep their own houses. Ryan’s group has taken the empty houses just inside the western walls. There were enough for every family to have one, with some of the single men agreeing to share living accommodations for the time being.”
Ryan now jumped into the conversation, addressing Alicia. “My group is very grateful for the housing, and we’re very grateful that your group has taken us in and has welcomed us. Until yesterday, we were living rough for several months, after our settlement in northern Indiana was overrun by a swarm of Creepers that numbered in the thousands. We lost many people at that time…men, women, and children…and those of us that survived are now just so grateful to have a safe place to live once again. We fully intend to pull our weight and do our fair share in order to keep this community safe.”
With her arms folded across her chest, Alicia just snorted in response, although it was a very feeble one. “Well, fine, I guess. This community now has two alphas. Where does this leave Mark, then?”
“Mark and Tom are still my first lieutenants,” Eric said. “Nothing with that has changed. The only thing that has changed is that our community now has a third first lieutenant, in Ryan’s right-hand man, Wade. That’s it.”
With her arms still folded tightly across her chest, Alicia sniffed a bit. “Well…all right, I guess. But with you and Ryan both being alphas now, Eric…well, where does this leave Ellie?”
Having been following the back-and-forth conversation with rapt attention, I now looked at Eric. “Yes. That’s a great question. Where does this all leave Ellie?”
For at least the third time during the conversation, Eric raked a hand through his hair, frowning hard, not meeting my gaze. “You’ll just have to be mated to the both of us now. That’s the new deal. All the women in Ryan’s group are already coupled up and don’t want to be-”
“Excuse me? Just what in the hell are you talking about?”
Alicia had spoken, echoing my thoughts. Nonetheless, I basically repeated what she’d just said.
“Yes, Eric. I’d also like to know. Just what in the hell are you talking about?”
Frowning so hard he was almost scowling, he seemed to speak to Alicia, glancing at her but not me. “Look. Because of the shortage of women post-virus, some of you women have naturally ‘doubled up’ with men. You know this. You know this has been going on here in Silverfield for months. Since you and Mark were married even before the Chaos, I’ve never asked you-”
“Because you know my answer would be a definite no. I’m a one-man woman, Eric.”
“Yes, I know that. I haven’t asked or suggested that any of you women who were already coupled up pre-Chaos, or who were already coupled up before arriving here-”
“But you would ask Ellie right now? When she thought that she’d be coming here to be paired up with one alpha, and one alpha only?”
Mirroring Alicia’s pose, I folded my arms across my chest, looking at Eric. “Those are great questions. Maybe you’d like to answer them.”
He heaved a sigh, avoiding my gaze. “Look. My community is giving yours a lot in return for you coming here. A lot. Now, Ryan has already moved into my house, where I expect you to move in too. If you refuse this arrangement, that’s your choice, and I’ll respect it, and I’ll send you back on your merry way to the impoverished gymnasium community you came from. However, just know that if that’s your choice, I won’t be able to gift your community with the things that I promised in exchange for your willing participation in our deal. I’ll need to save those gifts to offer to some woman who is willing.”
Suddenly, Alicia grabbed my hand and began marching me away from the group of men, muttering under her breath. “You’re a disgusting pig, Eric. You have no regard for how a female might think in this situation.” Almost as soon as she’d spoken, she abruptly turned to look behind her, still half-dragging me away.
“I’m sorry for that, Eric…for saying you’re a pig. You’re still our alpha, and I still respect you. But maybe, you can just come to respect how Ellie might feel, having all this just completely sprung on her.” With that, Alicia turned to face forward again, and continued pulling me off by the hand. “Sorry for that little outburst, Ellie, but you know, someone had to say something. All the men in this community…they’re all just so horny that it’s made them all obsessed with the idea of ‘sharing’ women, just so that they can all have a woman to go to bed with. Which is totally fine if the particular woman actually wants to be shared.
All I know is that that woman isn’t me. Sure, deep, dark fantasies might be one thing, but as for my real life…well, I’m just Mark’s only woman, and he’s just my only man. That’s the way it is. Not to mention that no matter how hot I might find it sexually, I just know that Mark would never allow me to bring another ‘husband’ into our relationship. Sure, it might make things extremely hot in the bedroom, but….”
Having let go of my hand, Alicia suddenly sighed, glancing over at me while still walking. “Look. I think I’m just really tired after sleeping on that damned hard floor in that damned gross convenience store last night. Now, in my extreme tiredness, I’m probably just babbling. All you need to know is that Mark and I are a married couple, married for nearly a year before the Chaos, and he’s my only man. And that’s just the way it is. As for you and the craziness that Eric has sprung on you, let’s just get you moved into the house, and let’s just get you a hot shower and a hot meal and some fresh clothes and things like that, just so that we can both just take a minute to think about all this. Okay?”
I said that a hot shower, a hot meal, and some fresh clothes would be amazing, secretly thinking that having Eric and Ryan “share” me in bed might be amazing as well.