In truth, the garment was exquisite. Made of soft velvet, it fell in luxurious folds to the floor. The lining was pure silk, and there were custom-tailored places for her to insert her hands and pull the edges of the cloak closed around her. If she didn't let go, no one ever had to know she was naked underneath.

Ali took a deep, shuddering breath. Victor would know. That was enough.

"They're all waiting downstairs. I'm to lead you there, but I can't come in with you. The guards have been doubled at every window and door, so don't even think about attempting to escape. Ready?"

Ali raised an eyebrow. "Do I have a choice?"

"What the Master wants, the Master gets. I suppose you had to learn to follow orders sooner or later, like us all."

Ali bristled at the implication of Emma's offhanded comment as she followed the woman down the long corridor. She didn't take orders from anyone. She might have been born female and not of true royal blood, but d.a.m.n it, she'd been born to lead. Her lot in life was to give orders, not follow them.

Gritting her teeth, she climbed down the set of steps to the main floor. Her gaze swept the corridor, but as Emma had made clear, men stood like silent sentries along every break in the hall, at every door, by every window.

When they reached a set of mahogany double-doors, Emma paused. "I can go no further. From here on, it's all you."

If Emma's words had been meant to unnerve her, they had the desired effect. The double doors swung open, and Ali stepped inside the room.

Her breath caught in her throat. A moment earlier, there'd been a low, buzzing murmur of voices engaged in conversation, but it had come to an abrupt halt when she entered.

Dozens of pairs of eyes stared in her direction. She knew every one of the people in the room, some better than others. Her gaze slid over J.C., pretending not to notice the way his brows furrowed over his dark eyes, or the way his mate's knuckles turned white as she dug her fingernails into his arm. Ali's heart thumped a frantic, uncertain beat when she spotted Brad standing off to the side, his arm flung over Sean's shoulders.

Why was Sean here? He wasn't even a member of the pack, and his relationship with Brad had been superficial at best. Hadn't it? She frowned, wondering if she'd misread their connection. If she had...

No, it was impossible. The formula she'd injected into Brad had to be sweeping through every one of the weres in this room, and by now they all knew it, judging by the accusing, condemning stares they darted her way.

Victor stood in the middle of the room, his arms folded across his impressive chest. A black, long-sleeved shirt hugged his lean, muscular form to perfection, and the sight made a flutter stir deep in Ali's stomach. It was a purely feminine response at the sight of a handsome man, and not one she could easily control, but it irked her anyway.

She set her features in a scowl. "Why am I here?"

"We'd all like to know that," J.C. said.

"Yeah. The b.i.t.c.h tries to destroy us and you're throwing her a party?" someone else shouted.

Ali ignored them, as she tried to ignore the instruments of pain and pleasure scattered around the room. Her p.u.s.s.y clenched at the implications of the floggers and paddles, the whips and chains. She'd seen this room before, once, when she'd run past it in an attempt to find a way out of the mansion. It had looked nothing like this, then.

Victor reached out and wrapped his arm around Ali's waist, then pulled her to him. Her first impulse was to pull back out of his arms, but the feel of his body was warm, comforting. Despite herself, she felt protected from the venomous stares of those around her. His c.o.c.k stirred against her belly, thick and unmistakable even through the material of their clothes. Ali fought to hide a tremble of desire that traitorously snaked up her spine.

"Alison is under my protection. And you are all guests in my home. While you're here, you'll all behave like civilized wolves. Am I making myself clear?"

A few half-hearted murmurs echoed in response. Victor growled, the sound coming from deep in his chest and resonating through the room. "That's not good enough."

"Yes, yes, you've made your point," J.C. said, stepping forward. Ali looked up and gazed into his dark eyes. It was so unlike the half-brother she knew to take charge of a situation. When they were kids, he'd deferred every decision to his older brother. Now that his brother and father were dead and he'd fallen into the role of pack Alpha, there was no hesitation in him, no second guessing.

She'd spent her entire life envying J.C., hating the way he belonged in the pack when she didn't. Yet now, watching him, a stirring of pride and unexpected affection p.r.i.c.kled the edges of Ali's awareness.

Her baby brother, all grown up. The knowledge was at once welcome and unsettling. Everything she thought she knew about the pack was rapidly being turned on its head.

"You all questioned my motives when I took her in," Victor said, his palm sweeping up and down the length of Ali's back. "h.e.l.l, you questioned my sanity."

A few chuckles erupted around the room. Victor ignored them and continued, "Yet none of you know Ali the way I do. You don't see the potential in her that I see. Tonight, you will."

He gave her no warning before unraveling the tie that held the cape together at the base of her neck. She hadn't even had time to fit her palms into the inside pockets and keep the fabric clenched around her. With one smooth move, Victor had the garment off her shoulders.

Ali cried out, her voice joining the shocked murmurs of those a.s.sembled. From behind her, Victor placed his palms on either side of her waist. "Lesson two," he whispered in her ear, low enough that only she could hear. "Openness. Sincerity can be faked. Honesty can be nothing more than a lie spoken through a smile. But true openness can't be forced."

He took her hand and led her to a wooden wheel that had been mounted on the nearest wall. Tears burned behind her eyelids as she understood what was expected of her. He'd promised her pleasure, but his punishment was more conniving and ingenious than she would have given him credit for. Instead of pain, he gave her humiliation.

Ali stepped on the spokes and closed her eyes. She felt Victor kneel in front of her to bind the straps around her ankles before rising to fasten her wrists. Spread-eagled, she hung on the wheel, naked and in full view of anyone who cared to watch.

Their gazes burned her flesh. She felt them linger on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her belly, her s.e.x. Her p.u.s.s.y lips flared at the knowledge that everyone in the room stared at the seeping wetness that dripped down her inner thigh. Even now, when she had nothing else to depend on but herself, her body betrayed her.

"She's yours for the taking," Victor announced. "There will be no better opportunity to learn what Ali is made of than the one I give you right now. I will remind all of you that she's not to be harmed. Use the instruments around you, if you must, but use them to give her pleasure. If anyone lays a hand on her with any intention but to bring her to the height of ecstasy, you'll answer to me. Understood?"

This time, the answering a.s.sent was loud and unanimous. Ali opened her eyes. Victor stood beside her, his fingertips sweeping down her cheek. "Remember lesson one?"

She nodded, recalling the way every nerve ending in her body had stirred at the unseen hands, lips and tongues that played with every inch of her flesh.

"Trust me, then," Victor said.

J.C. stepped up to her first. Heat suffused her cheeks as her half-brother's gaze slid up her body, but he only look perplexed.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said to Victor.

"I do."

"Fine, then. Remember our agreement. Have your fun, but don't lose sight of what's at stake."

Victor inclined his head respectfully. "You won't regret this."

"I already do," Eve said under her breath. She'd tried to keep her feelings about this spectacle hidden, but Ali saw the distaste etched upon her features.

J.C. swept his mate close to his side. "Goodbye, sis." His level gaze a.s.sessed her for a moment before he continued, "We may not meet again."

Eve and J.C. turned and made their way through the crowd. Ali watched them until they slipped out the door, then released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"Shhh..." Victor soothed, leaning close and smoothing her hair back from her forehead. "It's okay. There's a lot more to come, and they won't all be as bad as that."

Ali didn't reply. It took all her self-control to keep her gaze fixed straight ahead. Her body trembled, adrenaline fusing with antic.i.p.ation. How much worse could it get?

Brian, a man she recognized as one of the few children of her age who'd played with her when she was young, came up to her next. His eyes bore into hers, his scowl deepening as he came close enough to touch her. He had a flogger in one hand, and he raised it, letting it hover just in front of her eyes. "You don't deserve mercy," he said, his hate-filled voice sending a tremor through her limbs.

She held her breath, antic.i.p.ating the first flare of pain as the flogger licked her skin. Beside her, Victor growled softly. Brian's upper lip curled into a snarl, revealing sharp fangs. She knew he was holding back the shift. His tightly corded muscles betrayed his need to transform, to change into a wolf and leap upon her naked, human body.

Only Victor's presence at her side and his words lingering in her mind kept her from breaking out in a cold sweat. Trust me, he'd said... and common sense be d.a.m.ned, but she did.

Brian dropped the flogger and walked away. His hunched shoulders and the way he fisted his hands at his sides told her he'd love to get his hands on her outside of Victor's protection. Well, she'd welcome him, then. In a fair fight, she knew she could best any of them.

The next person to approach her was kinder, though not by much. She didn't recognize him, but his green eyes and mess of untamed blond hair reminded her of Brad. Without hesitation, he cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "How could anyone so beautiful be so evil?" he spoke softly, but his words went right through Ali, clawing at her heart.

She knew he was right. They all were. She'd destroyed their pack for money and the vague promise of revenge. They'd never taken her seriously, so she'd attempted to gain the pack's respect through fear by viciously attacking them.

Shame washed over her. Guilt and remorse mingled with the stirrings of arousal as the man circled her areola with the tip of his index finger. Her nipples stiffened, begging to be rubbed, pinched, teased. Her l.a.b.i.a fluttered as her s.e.x twitched, and the unmistakable waft of her cream tickled her nostrils. Beside her, she thought she saw Victor smile.

Ali bit her lower lip, hard, to keep from giving in to the sensations coursing through her body. One by one, Victor's guests came up to her and mercilessly fondled and stroked every inch of her skin. Her tightly corded muscles quivered as hands grabbed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and fingers thrust between her plump l.a.b.i.a. She saw the smirks as they discovered the slick juices of her readiness, recognized the glee etched in their faces.

Her cheeks burned. Blood flooded her tongue as she broke the skin of her lip with her teeth. The coppery flavor kept her grounded, while a myriad of sensations teased and a.s.saulted her senses.

A woman drew back the hood of her c.l.i.toris and teased her softly with the pad of her thumb. Ali moaned, unable to hold back. She remembered Emma's touch, so gentle and kind, and couldn't help but compare it with this woman's caress, which was ruthless by comparison. Yet both awakened feelings in her she didn't want to face, emotions she'd never expected to feel.

And then, something happened. Instead of fear and hate, she began to recognize something else in the eyes of those who came before her. Compa.s.sion, understanding, even pity began to glitter in their gazes. She swallowed back the lump that formed in her throat.

A man lowered his head and bit the brown nubbin of her nipple as his fingers played within her slit. "I see what you mean, Victor," he said around a mouthful of her breast. "A misguided woman like her with a proper Master could become anything. She might even be worthy of redemption."

Ali closed her eyes. She refused to a.n.a.lyze the man's meaning. Victor didn't reply, but she'd seen the self-satisfied grin before her eyelids drifted down to shield her.

Hands trailed across her stomach, teasing her with expert skill. Unable to deny her body's response to the languid caress, she thrust her b.r.e.a.s.t.s forward and parted her thighs as wide as her restraints would allow. Fingers slipped briefly within her folds, thrusting inside her channel, only to be replaced with another set of hands, then another and another. She lost count of how many people had fondled her, and her body buzzed with a sensual awareness she couldn't deny.

Torn between anguish and arousal, she couldn't catch the sob that rose in her throat.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. I've never wanted that for you."

Ali gasped at the familiar voice. She opened her eyes and looked into a startlingly familiar pair of blue eyes.

Brad's eyes.

Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, and she blinked them back, determined to keep from embarra.s.sing herself.

Too late.

Brad held a leather paddle in one hand. He trailed the rounded edge over her arm and down her shoulder, then circled her nipple. "I've thought about what I would do when I finally had a chance to get my hands on you," he said softly. "I never imagined it would be quite like this."

"She's not to be hurt," Victor reminded him.

Brad shrugged. "I know."

Ali glanced behind him and caught sight of Sean, standing a few steps away. His expression was carefully guarded as he watched them, but he made no move to interfere or partic.i.p.ate.

Brad brought the paddle down between her legs and flipped it in his hand. Using the tip of the long, thick handle, he rubbed her c.l.i.t. She sucked in a breath as pleasure streamed into her c.u.n.t. Lowering his hand, Brad brought the hilt of the paddle between her legs and thrust it inside her.

She gasped at the intrusion, but her p.u.s.s.y clenched around it, sucking it inside her body with relentless force. The hilt was cold and immensely thick inside her, bigger than any c.o.c.k she'd ever had. It stretched her inner walls to capacity and filled her, nudging her womb.

Ali groaned with shock and delight. Risking a glance at Victor, she saw his eyes were shadowed with l.u.s.t, his lips slightly parted. She yearned to lean over and slide her tongue between his lips while Brad f.u.c.ked her with the paddle, but she didn't dare. Instead, she gritted her teeth and gave in to the sensations coursing through her.

Brad thrust the hilt inside her again, faster and faster. She met his strokes as well as she could, her body sliding against the rough wooden wheel behind her, her juices slicking the handle and dripping down her thighs. Pressing her lips together, she tried to block out everyone else in the room. It didn't matter that they all watched this little humiliating display. All that mattered was that Brad and Victor were with her, pleasuring her.

There was no hatred, no spite or condemnation. Just... openness. She could no longer hide anything from them. Not like this.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, hardly coherent. "I am so sorry."

Brad sighed. "I know. I didn't before, but I do now."

She let her head fall back, while tears trickled from beneath her closed eyelids. With leisurely skill, Brad penetrated her, while Victor finally lowered his mouth and clamped his lips around one of her nipples.

She'd have recognized his mouth from a million others. The rough stubble of his jaw grazed her breast and the slick, velvety feel of his tongue swept over her skin. Her inner walls fluttered in unheeded contentment. Her hips pumped as the sweet stirrings of climax heightened to full-blown o.r.g.a.s.m.

It peaked in a frenzy of erotic delight, bursting through her body with tremendous speed. Her nerve endings flared, every part of her screaming in delighted agony. Her voice bounced off the walls, echoing back at her with a potent, savage power.

Trust. Openness.

As the last stirrings of her release swirled through her, Ali wondered how long she'd have to wait until her third lesson.

Chapter Five.

It wasn't until Victor unfastened the last of Ali's bonds and she collapsed against him that he knew his heart was in danger. Until then, he'd been able to fool himself into thinking he'd taken her in for altruistic reasons and for the good of the pack.

Even while watching Brad arouse her to the brink of climax with the confident touch of someone familiar with her body, Victor had been able to delude himself. He believed -- really believed -- that the only reason he was compelled to clamp his mouth around her nipple at the moment of her release was because he feared the effect that climaxing at the hand of her victim would have on her already bruised ego. The tables had turned, and Victor had doubted Ali would be able to handle the last crucial element of her second lesson. Surely the fact that his blood had boiled at the sight of another man's hands on her had nothing to do with his urge to touch her, to ensure she knew he was there, making her come.

After all, the gathering had been his idea. He'd known all along what would happen, and by all accounts the evening had been an even greater success than he'd expected.

And yet, the moment he felt Ali's body press against his chest as he gathered her to him and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a gesture of complete and utter trust, the self-deception shattered into a million fragmented pieces of denial.

Holding her tightly, Victor strode out of the chamber, leaving his household to scurry inside in his wake and clean up the evidence of the evening's revelry. They had their work cut out for them. As the night wore on, some of the guests had taken matters into their own hands after watching Ali's body being fondled, pinched and caressed in every possible manner. A few of the bolder ones had found willing partners among the rest of the pack, while others shifted to their natural form and fled into the night, no doubt to find their pleasure in the open, with moonlight beating down on their fur.

Ali whimpered softly and burrowed her face in the hollow between his collarbone and his ear. "Is it over?"

"Shhh," he soothed, "it's over. Everyone's gone home."

"Home." He couldn't see her face, but he could almost picture the sad smile etched upon her full lips. "Must be nice."

Victor's heart pounded violently as he recognized the melancholy lilt in Ali's voice. The words themselves hadn't been unusual. Certainly not enough to make him squeeze her even tighter against him. What shocked him was the way she'd said them. He'd heard the same sentiment uttered with identical raw need by many of the wolves he'd taken into his household. He just hadn't expected to hear it from Ali.

Silently cursing himself for not seeing it sooner, he walked down the length of the main hallway, noting the way the guards' gazes didn't waver for even a brief peek at the naked woman he carried. He'd trained them too well for that.

Reaching the base of the stairs leading to the second floor, Victor hesitated for only a moment with his foot on the bottom step. Then, instead of heading upstairs to the guest bedrooms where Ali had been under constant guard, he turned right, toward his own room.

Adjusting his grip on Ali so that he could support her weight with one hand, he used the other to reach into his pocket and pull out a slender key. She sighed and wriggled against him, the warm skin of her a.s.s burning against his palm. He fumbled with the lock, his c.o.c.k stiffening further, sending pulsing tremors of delight through him.

Inside, the room was dark, the only light coming from the moonbeams sliding through the open double doors leading to his balcony. No guards had been positioned there. He had no need of them. The scent of night-blooming flowers wafted in, imbuing his bedroom with a sweet, sensual aroma that did nothing to hide Ali's own musky perfume. It clung to her like an aphrodisiac, burrowing straight to his groin every time he breathed.

Using the heel of his foot, Victor pushed the door closed. It slammed with a loud clank behind them.

"More lessons?" Ali asked, lifting her head.