Rejecting the Alpha

Although I tried reasoning with Thedric on a number of occasions over the next few days, he refused to listen to my warnings. He was entirely convinced that I must be Alpha Gavriel's weak spot no matter how much I argued.

I tried to play nice and cooperative as we moved from one location to the next, hoping they would let down their guard the way that the Stonemason people did when I was first there, but they never did. They seemed more suspicious. Maybe it was a side effect of living life as rogues.

Regardless, no matter what I tried, one of the three—or the several others who had been introduced to Thedric's group—always had an eye on me, although I was finally untied after Thedric’s arrival to the group. I didn’t think it was my excellent cooperative act that had removed the ropes, more likely dragging around a bound girl would attract too much notice. I still couldn't even go to the washroom without a guard, but thankfully he had at least brought a female along who took over care of those sorts of needs.

As the days drew into a week, I was becoming increasingly frustrated with my inability to do anything to help myself. At least when his brother kept me prisoner I had been able to freely move around the room that had been my cage.

Finally, I was bustled into a cheap hotel room near Stonemason, although they still watched me so carefully I had no chance to bust away from them. Maybe I would have been able to if I had my wolf, but they had been careful to keep me injected with what I assumed was wolfsbane twice a day, every day. Anxiety grew deep in my stomach the closer we got, and it reared up as full-fledged fear when I realized how close we were.

I never wanted to go back, but I seemed to be helpless to prevent it. No one listened to me when I warned them of their coming doom. No one.

And not only were they heading towards their certain deaths, they were dragging me along with them. I did not love my mate, but I did respect his power and having met them both I was certain Thedric was no match for him.

The next morning, I was dragged back out to a vehicle and put in the backseat. I didn't fight, but then I saw my moment when the tall guard and the female stopped to converse.

I jumped across the back seat and yanked the door handle and pushed the door open. I ran, as hard and as fast as I could. My instinct was to run towards the forest where I and my wolf were most comfortable, but instead I sprinted towards the small town where there would hopefully be some human witnesses.

Desperation and adrenaline pushed me forward, but they failed me as I was tackled to the ground, gravel scraping the skin off my knees through my borrowed pants, and my palms ripped with small rocks embedded in.

Thedric was looking around nervously, concerned, but sadly it seemed no one had been watching my brief attempt at escape. In a world with billions of humans, why wasn't one around when I needed them?

I was roughly shoved back into the back, and they gave me no more opportunity to escape.

As we drove, one of the guards painfully plucked the rocks from my hands and bandaged them because my healing was slower thanks the constant drugging.

Thedric was in the front seat and I appealed to him one more time.

"Please, think about what you're doing. He'll kill you all, and I'll never escape again. Please, Thedric. Is this worth it? You're becoming like him by trying to get revenge. Let it go, and we’ll all escape him.

He ignored me, like they always did.

In that moment I washed my hands of them. I had tried to save them, and whatever happened to them next was not my responsibility. I only had to look out for myself, and try to find my way back to the one I loved.

My heart pounded frantically as we drove into Stonemason territory. The familiar scents brought me back to times and traumas I wished to forget. All the emotional healing I had done alone and with Vander seemed washed away in the scent of blood coming from my own wounds, yet again.

Everything with Alpha Gavriel was blood.

We had been remarked upon, and the fighters came up and surrounded the vehicles. One of the guards held a knife to my throat, and Thedric said calmly, "Fetch your alpha. We've found someone who belongs to him."

I held very still, although I wanted to argue. I didn't belong to anyone, except myself, and to Vander because I chose to be his. Tears pushed at my eyes at the memory of him. I would give nearly anything to see him again, to feel his quiet, confident strength keeping me away from all these erratic dangers.

It seemed only a few moments before the alpha was standing before us. I was dragged from the vehicle by my guards, and Thedric got out as well. After a quick glance at the threats, my first mate's gaze was glued to me, his dark blue eyes flickering gold with the rage of his wolf. My gaze was glued on him as well. He was large and strikingly handsome, even if the sight of him only filled me with dread.

I wondered if Thedric really understood who and what he was dealing with. He had willingly walked straight into the jaws of the beast.

"Hello, Brother," Thedric said in a surprisingly blasé tone. "Did you miss me?"

"Give her back," he said shortly, ignoring Thedric as if he had said nothing at all.

Thedric chuckled. "I'm not sure she wants to go back to you."

He growled and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Since you're estranged, that means you don't care what happens to her, right?"

A muscle in his jaw jerked. The blade moved deeper, the scent of my blood grew stronger.

Vander! My heart cried for him.

"If you harm her, I'll kill you, slowly removing your life piece by piece."

"So, you do care? Surprising.”

Alpha Gavriel growled again, the wolf overtaking the man more with each tense moment. "What do you want from me?"

"Step down as alpha and hand Stonemason over to me," Thedric said.

"I will, if you let her go."

My eyes widened at his words. It had to be his wolf speaking, because I doubted that my cold mate would give up his pack for me alone. The knife didn't leave my neck, but the pressure lessened.

"I'll let her go once you're locked up." Thedric's voice was a mixture of confidence and surprise. He had not expected it to be that easy. Neither had I.

"As you wish," Alpha Gavriel said, his eyes still boring into mine. What horrors would he inflict on me now that he had given up his pack in exchange? I didn't feel safer, if anything, my situation was only more precarious.

If I had blinked I would have missed it. An enraged growl so loud everyone paused in shock emanated from the alpha's throat, as he lunged forward, straight towards me. He shoved me backwards, away from the knife, and then ripped off the arm of the one who had been holding me with a sickening cracking squelch. I landed hard on the ground as the rogue screeched in pain and horror, blood gushing from the wound.

Alpha Gavriel was already on the move again without pause, transforming into his monster of a wolf. Almost in a blink of an eye, the other rogues were captured or killed by the Stonemason warriors, and my first mate whirled on his brother who had transformed a split second later to meet him.

I was helped to my feet by a couple of pack members, and moved away from the fight cautiously, searching for an escape, although one of the guards kept a firm grasp on my arm at all times. Alpha Gavriel's monstrous wolf form towered over his less impressive brother, and their fight was short and brutal. Thedric sunk to the ground, foreleg severed and his throat torn out and bleeding, and in the last moment he met my eyes, perhaps finally taking my warnings into account too late.

Compared to every other loss and travesty I had witnessed, seeing a fool who walked straight into danger lose his life meant almost nothing.

The prisoners were dragged away, and even the guards left, and finally it was just me and the murderer who was my mate.