The Alpha Gladiator by Erin M. Leaf

THE ALPHA GLADIATOR
     
    Warriors
of the Arena, 1
     
    Beth D. Carter
     
    Copyright © 2015
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    A bonfire burned brightly under the
full moon .
Its flames extended so high they set the night sky ablaze.   Ravage walked the perimeter of the clearing
where his people danced to honor the gods.   It was mating season, and he circled the young males and females who all
vied to capture one another’s attention.   His people called it the Thunder Moon, one that usually gave them inhuman
strength, but now roused them into a frenzied sexual need.     Ensuring the peace between the males as they
sniffed for their mates happened to be his duty as Alpha.
    About fifty yards away sat another
bonfire, tended by the elder generations, those who already had mates, or those
who decided not to mate at all.   For them
it was a night of celebration, of gathering together in song and praise to
their ancestors and traditions.  
    Across
the way on the other side of the bonfire, Aleirah strolled along, keeping an
eye on people. Her long dark hair caught the glow from the bonfire and swung
with a blue gleam.   His cock hardened
with interest.   He wanted Aleirah, but so
far, she had rejected all his attempts at courting.   He had known his whole life that Aleirah was
destined to be his, just as he had known from a tender age that he would
someday be Alpha.   It was an innate
awareness beyond comprehension, a primitive call to be leader.   Alphas were bigger, tougher, and more dominant
than other Lycans and once he had reached maturity, his body had finally caught
up with the power he’d been born with, filling out with muscle and strength.   Ravage had risen quickly through the military
ranks until the old Alpha recognized who Ravage was meant to be.   Then he declared they fight in the Dominance
Battle, although Ravage had been reluctant to fight someone so old.   Still, it was the only way to become Alpha,
so he’d fought and won.   It had been the
last time he killed a man.  
    One day, the same would happen to
him, when the next Alpha rose to power.
    Aleirah ’s laugh
trickled over the distance, bringing him out of his dark thoughts, and he smiled.   She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she
talked with another female, animated as she constantly moved.     She
was dressed in traditional garments of animal skin, which clung seductively to
her curves, and the wolf in him wanted to tear her clothes off with his teeth. But
then, this desire raging through him was nothing new. The first moment he’d
laid eyes on Aleirah, the need to be with her almost overwhelmed him.   He had been ten and she’d been seven and at
the time didn’t understand what his heart was telling him.   So he ’d waited for
her to join the mating ceremony so he could claim her, but she had yet to take
part in the ceremony herself.
    “ You can ’t take your eyes off her,” his beta, Fray, said wryly.   “Just go to her.”
    “If
you haven’t noticed, I am monitoring the sex crazed youngsters,” Ravage said,
flicking a finger around the gyrating dancers.
    “You
make it sound like you’re ancient , ” Fray said.
    Ravage snorted.   “Sometimes I feel ancient.”
    “I’ll
keep an eye open,” Fray said.   “My mate
is sick so I won’t be participating in any pleasures of the flesh this
night.   You might as well go have fun.”
    “Fun?   So far that girl has rejected me at every turn.”
    “So what?   You just going to give up?”   Fray shook his head.   “That doesn’t sound like the Alpha I know.”
    Ravage gave a wry smile.   He slapped Fray good-naturedly on the back
and turned over his chaperoning duties to his beta and friend, making a beeline
straight for Aleirah. She was tall for a woman, standing almost to his
shoulders, and her toned body made him salivate for a taste of her satiny
flesh.   He could picture licking her
until she squirmed under him, moaning his name and tugging his hair as