Alpha Black

Alice Forrest

Nathaniel entered the library; I could tell from his footsteps he was less than impressed. “Jamie is back, he’s going to stay here. I have to go out.”

“Okay,” I said, ripping my gaze away from my computer to look at him, “are you okay?”

A twitch appeared on his face, “there are talks of treachery happening. I must snuff them out before they catch on the wind.”

“Will you be okay?” I asked, standing, placing my hand on his arm.

“Don’t you worry, I will return,” he said, planting a kiss on my forehead, sending shivers down my spine.

“Good.”

He cocked his head, the frustration fading from his body. “Do not tell me, within less than a week you have come to grow affections for me, I thought it would have taken you so much longer.”

“Do not flatter yourself. If there is truly talk of someone trying to kill you, I worry for my own life. If they kill you before me, then I will be screwed, if they get to me, then they are screwed, but I am still dead.”

“Self preservation.”

I offered him a smile, “but perhaps, when you return I will give you a kiss.”

“Destroy a growing rebellion, all in exchange for a kiss.”

“I think it sounds like a good deal,” I said, my grin spreading wider.

He lifted his hand to my face and closed the space between us, his fingers felt like a fire, against my skin, creating a burning desire within me. Lifting my head, he gazed deeply into my eyes and into my soul, “I could always steal one,” he said, his lips drawing closer to my own, as he rand his thumb down from my cupids bow, parting my lips.

A cough snapped me back into reality and I stepped backwards, “Am I interrupting a farewell between Alpha and Luna?” Jamie said, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Not at all, how was your flight this morning?” I asked with a smile, letting the blush that had appeared on my cheeks.

“It was good, as flights across the country go.”

“Come, let’s walk,” I said, quickly approaching Jamie and grabbing his arm. “We mustn’t delay Alpha Black’s departure.”

“Of course, Luna,” Jamie said, placing his hands on my arm.

“Safe travels, Alpha Black,” I said with a smile, before quickly leaving the room.

“Where are we going?” Jamie whispered once he was sure we were out of hearing range of Nathaniel.

“To the gardens, for some privacy.”

“I don’t know if I would call the garden’s private,”

“Why?”

“The guards, they walk through it.”

“They do, but, as I understand, the guards are bound to not talk of things they over where in serving, espeically not things from the Luna or Alpha.”

“That excludes reporting to their superiors, including myself or Nate.”

“I know, but I only want to keep this from Nate.”

“He’s only going to be away for three days, at most.”

“I know, and I want you to start to train me.”

“What, why?” Jamie said stopping under a tree and staring at me.

I realised his arm and crouched down to pluck a white flower from the garden, twisting it between my finger to make it spin, I admired it’s beauty. “I feel like this flower, but instead of being in a beautiful garden, I feel like I’m being suffocated by weeds.”

“Are you calling me a weed?” Jamie said, the hurt evident in his voice.

“Only because you can survive. I know that Nate doesn’t want me to leave his sight, I could see the worry in his eyes as he was leaving. I cannot protect myself Jamie.”

“I’m sure you can,” Jamie said with his normal goof smile. “Surely you’ve been in a fight before.”

I closed my palm around the flower and offered my hand out to Jamie, “No,” and the flower feel into his open palm, crumpled, torn, and already browning.

Jamie looked up from the flower and then to me. “Okay, but you need to be proficient enough to protect me from Nate when he finds out.”

“Deal,” I said, shaking his hand and knocking the flower to the ground.

* * * * * * * * * *

It had now been a week since Nathaniel left, Jamie becoming my constant companion, locked away in the house with me. “Don’t you get sick of being cooped up in here for so long?” Jamie asked, stretching his legs across the sofa and flopping his tablet onto his chest.

“Shouldn’t you be out doing Beta things, while Nate’s not here?”

“Not really, everyone is self sufficient, and their aren’t really any things I can do in his absence. He’s just making me do the paper work while he’s off fighting rouges and rebels.”

“So you’re getting punished with baby sitting duty and paper work? It’s like your grounded.”

Jamie laughed, “let’s go train again, the bruises on your arm have healed from this morning.”

I looked down at my arm, brushing my jumper out of the way and looking at my pale skin that was no longer stained blue and purple. “Okay, I’ll go change,” I smiled, leaning from my chair, jogging down the hallway and skipping every second step on the stairs.

Nathaniel had mind linked me the day after he left, apologising profusely and saying that things were dramatically more serious that what he had anticipated and that he would need to stay on the South East Coast of the pack longer than he anticipated. I assumed him it was alright and that Jamie and I were fine, reminding him he had a kiss waiting here when he returned after snuffing out the rebellion.

I changed into some navy activewear and stepped out onto the balcony, carefully climbing onto the tile roof and up the steep slope, Jamie had wandered outside, stretching his legs and arms as he waited for me to bound energetically through the doors onto the patio. Today, I indented on getting pay back from the morning session we had, where I was left looking like I had been thrown in a tub of purple dye.

I leaped from the roof and just as I was about to strike, he stepped to the side and I collided with the ground, a groan forcing it’s way from my lips.

“That was good, but you need to be prepared to land on your feet if your opponent moves.”

“Oh fuck you,” I hissed, swivelling my legs and knocking his out from under him, making him fall on the ground himself.

“Good recovery,” he grinned, a devilish glint flashing in his eyes.

I quickly stood, crouching into a protective stance, waiting for his attack. He stood too, his stance looser and relaxed than my own. He threw a fist to my right and then lunged towards me as I dodged left.

Lifting my own fist, I let it collide with his jaw, sending him staggering backward. Regaining his balance, he cleaned the blood from his mouth with his arm, glancing down at it his eyebrows raised, “you’ve gotten strong, quickly.”

“I have a good teacher,” I smirked, letting the complement inflate my ego.

I threw his head back and laughed, before lunging at me again, this time sending me backwards, my back collided with the ground. Just like he had taught me, I used his own force against him, and I use the momentum to flip him onto his back, taking another blow to his head and I leaped back off him.

He rolled onto his stomache, “You defiantly fight better when you’re fuelled with rage,” he murmured.

“You heal quickly, you’ll be fine. Plus, this is just payback.”

“Did I push you too hard this morning, princess?” he snickered.

“Not at all, but I think Nathaniel wouldn’t be happy to hear you broke my arm, training or not.”

“Is that a threat?” he laughed, quickly jumping up and racing towards me with such speed and forced that we collided with the garden wall.

“Not at all,” I choked, as he applied pressure to my throat, holding me by the neck, my feet barely touched the ground.

I gripped onto his hands and with a grunt, swung my arms around his arm, pushing myself down, I flung him over my body and realised him, sending him towards the brick wall. A savage crack filled the air, the stone wall split.

“Shit,” I swore, quickly rushing to Jamie’s side, “are you okay?”

“Dam, princess,” he coughed, “I didn’t teach you that one.”

I laughed, “is that enough for today?”

“I think you broke my hip.”

“Serves you right,” I laughed, helping him to his feet.

I assisted Jamie back into the house, letting him flop onto the couch in the living room while I made tea. At first, our training sessions had just been the basics, how to throw a punch, how to get out of someone grabbing me, but Jamie and I were both shocked to see how quickly I caught on. Before I knew it, in Nathaniel’s absence I felt confident in myself. Our training sessions jumped to every morning, mid-day and evening, allowing our bruises, scratched and broken bones to heal before we started it all again.

The fights between us only lasted minutes, Jamie now conceding that he had to use his full strength at me, rather that pulling his punches.

I sat down on the couch next to Jamie, handing him a cup of tea and admiring the finger prints of bruises he left of my arm and neck, “you’re really going all out now, aren’t you?” I asked as I watched their colour deepen before my eyes.

“I know you said your father was an old Beta,” he groaned, sitting up and drinking a mouthful of tea, “but you heal like an Alpha, who was your mother?”

“No one special, that I know of,” I said with a sigh, “she died, was murdered, hours after I was born.”

“Was the birth complicated?” Jamie asked, turning to look at me, sadness laced in his eyes.

“Not that I know of, it was her mate that killed me.”

“Your father?”

“No, my mother didn’t find her mate until after she married my father, he killed her after I was born to my father, instead of him.”

“Wow, how did you live? I’d presume you were the one who would have been killed.”

“My father stole me, my mother’s mate was a powerful Alpha, but my father never really recovered from the whole ordeal.”

“I’m sorry,” Jamie said, offering a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“It’s not like it was your fault,” I said, offering him a smile.

I smelt citrus, waft through the open window, “shit.”

“What?” Jamie said, straighten up.

“He’s back,” I said, feeling a tingle running down my spine, “he’s going to kill you.”

The fear was clear in Jamie’s face, and he tried to stand, but pain flooded his face, “no, you’ll hurt yourself more,” I said, pushing him back down.

“Fuck, I can’t believe you convinced me to do this, it’s suicide.”

I turned to face the door as it swung open and Nathaniel walked into the room, he looked exhausted, but a happy smiled was laced across him as his eyes fell on me. The smiled melted away, as his eyes bounced across my skin, and his emerald eyes turned black.

“What happened,” he spat, he eyes, fixed on the throbbing bruises around my neck.

“I can explain,” I said, walking towards him as he began to saunter across the room.

“You were meant to fucking protect her,” Nathaniel said, stopping in front of me and glaring down at Jamie.

“It was my fault,” I said, placing my hands on his chest, “Nate.”

“What happened,” he commanded, his eyes snapping back to me.

“I asked him to train me.”

“So he did this.”

“To be fair,” Jamie said with a groan, “your mate broke my hip.”

“You dared to lay a finger on my mate.”