Wild at Heart

Stefan’s eyes flashed with flames of red, the veins on his neck popped with anger, and his salt and peppered hair looked out of place. Like he hadn’t had time to look in the mirror in days. He was a wolf on the run, and he looked the part.

“I brought you the female you wanted.” Dimitri said as he pointed at me.

“Tell me, Beta, did I ask for the female to be delivered to me like a cold pizza?” Dimitri’s eyes widened the second he realized he was in trouble.

“Well, no but—” The cave shook as Dimitri was slammed into the wall, Stefan’s hand against his throat.

“When have I ever needed females brought to me?” Stefan hissed in his face.

“Never, sir.” Dimitri choked out.

“And why would now be any different?”

“It wouldn’t.” Dimitri didn’t even try to fight back; he took the lashing like this was a normal situation for him. Stefan dropped him like a sack of potatoes and turned to Grayson.

“You’re the best tracker I’ve ever met in my life, son, and that is the absolute only reason you’re still breathing. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Grayson nodded his head but avoided eye contact.

“Dimitri… my Beta, my loyal wolf.” Stefan turned back to him. “I have hundreds of wolfs in my pack. Give me a reason to keep you alive.”

“Sir, Alpha, I live to please you.” Dimitri coughed out. “Please, sir, everything I do is to make you happy.”

“Do I look happy, Beta?”

“No, sir.” Dimitri lowered his head to the ground. Stefan turned to me and took a few steps towards me as he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to sort it out.

“Emma, I do apologize for these buffoons and how you’ve been treated.” He crouched down to my level and as soon as his eyes reached my face, he looked troubled. He reached for me and I surprisingly didn’t flinch as he held my chin and traced my lower lip with his thumb. He raised his thumb to his own face and examined the blood he had smeared from my lip. He went from gentle and soft, to hard and angry in a split second. He stood and turned away from me again. He grabbed Grayson by the rim of his shirt and pulled him merely inches from his face. “You brought her here?”

“Yes, sir.” He held his voice steady, although the smell of fear was seeping from his pores.

“How?”

“A moose tranquilizer, it was a small dart. I promise you it didn’t harm her.”

“And her lip?” Grayson’s eyes shifted to Dimitri and Stefan released his shirt, pushing him away with the palm of his hand. “Beta, come to me.” He instructed. Dimitri slowly lifted himself off the floor and slugged his way over to Stefan. “You put your hand on her?” He asked him.

“Sir, she kicked me—I was just—”

“Silence!” Stefan’s voice echoed throughout the cave and my heart began beating out of my chest. I needed to get out of here. “Give me your hand.”

“Sir?” Dimitri’s voice shook, but Stefan had no patience for it. He reached down and took Dimitri’s right hand in his. “Alpha, please,” Dimitri began to beg. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I will never touch her again. I promise, please just spare me.”

“Beta, you’ve shown me much loyalty since I promoted you.” Stefan’s voice was calm again. “You have been good to me.”

“Thank you. Thank you, Alpha.” Dimitri had a shimmer of hope in his eyes that he was going to leave this cave forgiven.

“But,” Stefan put his free hand on Dimitri’s shoulder and gripped his forearm. “If I were to allow my wolves to do as they pleased with no consequences then what kind of Alpha would I be?”

“Sir?” Stefan pushed Dimitri’s shoulder back as he pulled on Dimitri’s arm. His scream echoed throughout the entire cave as his arm ripped from his body. Stefan pushed his body to the ground as he held his arm in triumph. Dimitri held his bleeding nub as he grunted in pain. Stefan walked over to him and Dimitri tried to scurry away from him. “No! Please, no!” He begged as Stefan lifted the arm and slammed it down on him. He raised the arm again and I turned away from them, closing my eyes as tightly as I could. I heard the screams and thuds of the beating for what seemed like forever. Finally, the screams died out, but a few more swings landed before everything was silent. I opened my eyes and turned to see the gruesome scene. Dimitri’s face was almost unrecognizable, his entire body was covered in blood and his eyes were blank with death. I couldn’t stop my body from shaking at the scene. This was the first time I was seeing the true nature of the monster everyone spoke of when referring to the Alpha of the South Pack. There was blood splattered all over the ground and walls of the cave. Stefan turned to me; his face also covered in blood splatters from the now dead Beta. He threw the arm he was still holding to Grayson.

“Congratulations, you’ve just been promoted, Beta.” Stefan stately blankly. He walked back towards me and crouched down to me again. “I apologize that you had to see that Emma.” I didn’t know how to respond. What could you possibly say to someone like him after witnessing such an event? He looked down at my chains and his nose scrunched. “I created these chains infused with wolfsbane to hold my enemies in my pack. I sold them to your mate’s uncle many years ago.” He traced a finger over the cuffs and his finger turned red in irritation. He stared too long at my wrists that didn’t seem to be bothered by the chains one bit and I fidgeted on the ground.

“They hurt.” I lied. His eyes snapped up to mine and he looked…concerned?

“Beta!” He called to Grayson. “Release her.” At this point I kind of wanted to stay chained to the wall. At least then I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. I could tell by the smells around me that we were in rogue territory. The thin line around the border that had not been claimed by either pack. It was infested in rogues with no homes to go to. The territory was so small that no Alpha wanted to bother with the risks of claiming it. But if I were to be released from this cave, Stefan would be sure to take me to the South pack and I didn’t know if I would be able to escape. Grayson came over to me after gloving up and releasing me from my chains. I thought for a second that I could fight my way out of this, but I had to be smart. Even if I were able to fight off the Alpha and Beta of the South Pack, I would have to fight numerous rogues just to get back home. I rubbed my wrists to try to make them seem more inflamed than they were. “We have much to discuss, sweetheart.”