Free The Alpha's Captive by A. J. Jarrett

you’re saying, but maybe Aiden wants to be with you. And if he does, daddy dearest can’t do anything about it. Aiden’s a grown man.”
    “We both know it’s not that simple. He’d hunt us down until we’re all dead just to keep his son away from the monsters he thinks we are. I won’t put my brothers or the pack at risk for that matter. Keeping everyone safe outweighs what I want.” Devon accepted his fate, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
    “No one ever asked you to be a martyr. You’re punishing yourself to a life alone because you’re afraid to take a chance. Hunters come and go, and there’s nothing to say they won’t come after us with or without Aiden being with you.”
    Devon understood his friend’s line of thinking, and he appreciated it. But he was the alpha. It was his job to keep everyone else safe.
    “Josef, I know you mean well, but this is the way it has to be.” He held up a hand when Josef opened his mouth to argue. “I’m really tired, so please just go.”
    Josef stood up and walked to the door. He turned around like he wanted to say something but just sighed and left the room.
    Devon wished it was as easy as Josef made it seem. After that one kiss he craved another.
    Maybe a good night’s sleep would put his focus back on track. Getting Erik home safe and sound meant everything.

Chapter Nine
     
    Aiden tossed and turned for over two hours. He finally kicked his blankets aside and lay with his back on the bed. The more he thought about his encounter with Devon the more he got upset. The man kissed the very air out of his body then left like it didn’t mean anything. Aiden could tell that Devon wanted him. He could see it in the other man’s eyes and in the way he touched him.
    This whole situation was fucked up, and Aiden knew it. He shouldn’t be so attracted to Devon, but it was beyond him to deny it. Of course he was upset he’d been kidnapped, but after learning that Devon and his friends were wolves, it had him thinking they weren’t lying about his dad taking their brother.
    Aiden loved his father, but maybe he had been keeping things from him. And if he was Aiden wasn’t sure he really knew his father at all.
    Not wanting to think about his father, Aiden pushed those thoughts aside and focused on Devon. They shared one little kiss, and the man flew out of his room like it was on fire.
    Aiden wasn’t the most experienced lover, but he could kiss. That was practically the only thing he had done. He’d been hanging onto his virginity for nineteen long years. It was time to kiss that bitch good-bye and what better way than with an older man who had a body like a god. Plus it’d make for a good story to tell his friends when he got back to school, but he’d leave out the whole werewolf thing. He didn’t want them to think him crazy.
    And it wasn’t just about sex. Aiden felt a connection to Devon. It was like an invisible string tethering them together. He didn’t want to have sex with just anybody, but something told him with Devon it would be everything he’d always dreamed it would be.
    He wanted Devon to come back to his room but how to do that? If he broke a lamp or screamed, one of the other men in the house could come and check on him. He didn’t want to see anyone else, just Devon.
    “Devon, I need you,” he said softly. He’d just have to wait until Devon came back on his own to check on him. Feeling defeated, Aiden brought his arms up to place under his head. “I would love to see what you look like as a wolf up close.” The last part he said as an afterthought. Aiden believed that these men were wolves, but he wouldn’t mind getting actual visual proof.
    A few minutes passed and then Aiden heard the knob on his door turn.
    “You want to see my wolf?” Devon asked as he walked further into the room then turned on the bedside lamp. He dropped down to sit next to Aiden.
    “You heard that?” Aiden had whispered his words. How did Devon hear him