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Many people underestimated my dominance because my scent was subtle and mild, and I appeared to be quiet. But I was just at peace with my beast. We co-existed naturally without competing, unlike most alphas who fought their own beasts for dominance and tried to suppress them when they didn’t need them. Mine was always with me.
I let my true beast shine through my eyes and Lexie gasped. “Go now, my heart. I’ve got this. These alphas aren’t hurting anyone ever again.”
The alpha in my hold stiffened in fear and I willed her to go. I could see she wanted to argue again. She looked between the two alphas I had immobilized. One with my body and the other with my will. I knew instinctively she would argue to spare their lives, but they had seen her and scented her. There was no way they could live. She’d never be safe.
I saw the moment she realized the same thing. This was a moment for death and war, in the name of love.
I let my beast recede a little. “I swear I’m going to make that detour and be right behind. But we have to go now, and I need you out of this alleyway first. Please.”
She nodded, pocketed the knife with a grimace, and stepped away from the frozen alpha at her feet. I had a feeling she rarely used knives and wasn’t a fan of them. Before I could say anything more, she stepped into me. Not caring at all about the alpha I had pinned against the wall, completely dismissing him.
She rested her hand on my face, caressing it gently. “Promise you’ll meet me. I’m not losing you on the same night I found you. If you die on me, I will resurrect you and kill you again, slowly.”
I stared at her intently, feeling this woman settling deep into the core of my existence and marking me as hers with her words. “I will deny you nothing, in this life or the next.”
Lexie searched my face again, before she nodded, turned and disappeared into the darkness like she’d never existed. I knew she was real though, because I could feel a tentative bond connecting us, like a new flame struggling to grow.
I turned to the alpha in front of me. He whimpered as I let my beast back out and my inner darkness crept into my voice.
“It’s time for war and death.”
twenty-three
Iwaited,hiddeninthe darkness, my eyes focused on the entry to the alleyway. I knew Pala had asked me to go, and I knew why. So I went, but I wasn’t heading back to my bike until I knew he was okay.
I scanned my surroundings and noticed movement heading towards us.Christ on a cracker. What now?
I’d made sure I had an alternate exit, but it involved running through the exposed fire break. So it was a back-up plan. Plus, if I ran, they could take Pala by surprise when he exited the alley. I needed to find out what was heading for us first. I pushed myself further into the shadows and tracked the movement.
Whoever it was, they were moving stealthily, staying in the dark spaces like me. Either they were tracking us, or not where they were supposed to be. From the outline, it was a teenage boy or a small woman. I could handle myself easily with either, if I needed to.
As they crept closer, I relaxed my body, preparing to strike. I took a slow breath in just before they cut across near me and I got a brief look at them in the moonlight. I knew that face. He was the son of one of my contacts and a good kid.
“Ziggy,” I hissed into the darkness. He spun towards my voice, but couldn’t see me. I stepped out slightly, so he could see my face, before I reached out and grabbed him. I didn’t want him to yell and give us all away.
He took one look at me and lunged at me, hugging me fiercely. As well as being a contact, his mum was also one of my self-defense class students. Ziggy sometimes hung out at our lessons while he waited for her, so he knew me. I’d even taught him a few simple moves one afternoon.
I could feel him silently sobbing against my shoulder. He was clearly terrified right now. I pressed him into my shoulder and stroked his hair and his back gently until he stopped shaking. Poor kid was barely thirteen years old, and skinnier than I remember the last time I saw him.
“What are you doing out here alone at night? Where’s your mom?” I whispered, as my stomach sank, realizing she could be dead.
“She’s in the storage area behind the old museum with some of her friends. Nobody has tried to ransack it yet, because there’s nothing useful in there. But we’ve run out of food and water.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. My friend was safe, but something was off. “Why isn’t she at home, and why are you out here by yourself?”
Why isn’t she in the safe house?I added to myself.
“We were at home, but when the alphas came and set up at the pub, they tried to get people to trade their wives for food. When nobody took them up on it, they started ransacking nearby houses, looking for single women. They were drunk and shouting. Mum got us and some of her friends out and we’ve been hiding since.”
I had to force my rage down. This kid didn’t need to see me wigging out right now.
“When was this?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
“About four days ago. Most of the alphas disappeared after the first night. Only a few stayed, but the rest came back earlier today. I’ve been trying to find food, but the alphas spotted me one day. When they asked where my parents were, I told them both my parents took off and left me. They’ve been making me run errands and scavenge for them since then, but I sneak away to take things to my mom.”
His body trembled as he paused, and he looked over his shoulder. “Water, I can get from the river, but I know one alpha has been secretly stashing food in a storage room in the alleyway over there. I watched him. I was going to steal it for mom and her friends.”
My heart shattered for this brave, terrified kid. Nobody should have to suffer what he was going through. Life had clearly forced him to grow up really fast and make some tough calls to protect his mom.
