No Alpha, page 11
part #1 of The Alpha Brothers Series
“Did you sleep with her?” I ask him, my voice catching on a sob.
“Come inside, El,” he asks.
“Don’t call me that!” I spit out. “You are a liar!”
“You might want to watch what comes out of your pretty mouth next, El,” he warns, but I am past the point of caring.
“You promised me you would never hurt me, but you just did. You hurt me,” I say, my voice dropping into a whisper.
“Leave, Elodie. We had our fun, and we need an alpha female now. Misty is that. Now go,” he says, his voice void of emotion. Through all the pain, an angry feeling overwhelms me.
“Fine, but I swear you will never touch me again. None of you will,” I say, my whole body shakes with anger and betrayal as I run down the path, away from them all. I don’t know how long I run for, not noticing where I am until my feet hit the cold water as waves brush against them. I collapse to the sand, wrapping my arms around my legs and bursting into tears. I love them, and they do not love me. I was born as nothing, used to being nothing, and I always thought that was the cruelest thing that ever happened to me. But I was wrong. The Alpha Brothers tricked me, making me fall for them, and then threw me away like I was nothing. That was a crueler price to pay.
“So many tears,” Misty’s sweet voice drifts over to me. I don’t look her way as I hear her stop next to me, and her hand rests on my shoulder. I don’t even have the strength to push her away. I feel empty. “Some wolves are born to be used. To be nothing but good fucks for alphas who need a good time. You were that. I am born to rule. To be in charge and also be a good fuck they will never forget. You will be forgotten. Oh, it is so cruel a world we live in.” I listen to her words and finally decide I can’t show her the reaction she wants. I push her hand off my shoulder and stand up. I face her, the wind blowing our dresses and hair around like we are stood in the middle of a storm.
“Have them. I will not fight for anyone who thinks I am nothing,” I say, barging past her, knocking her shoulder as I hear her laugh.
“You are nothing. Remember it, Elodie,” I hear Misty say right behind me. I turn around to face her—just as she slams a rock onto my head, and I fall to the ground, hearing an unfamiliar male voice as everything goes black.
Chapter 27
Elodie
I let out a little pain-filled groan as I wake up, feeling rope tied around my chest and arms, and my legs are spread around a horse under me. We are riding fast through a forest, and I look down at the pale, muscular arms around me that hold the reins. I try to move only to find my hands are tied together tight enough that they are cutting into my skin. I feel terrible, and I try to think back to what happened, only to come up blank. I was arguing with Misty on the beach, then there was nothing. Like my rider can sense I am awake, he slows the horse down a little.
"Wh-who are you?" I nervously ask.
"You don't know me. I am a friend of the Xan Pack. The head beta to be precise, Elodie Masters," he tells me, making it clear he knows exactly who I am. If he is the head beta of the Xan Pack, then I have no doubt where he is taking me. If the pack is as brutal as Alpha told me they are, I won’t live long inside it. I can feel the cold in the air, and we are riding uphill now, suggesting we must be heading to the mountains.
"Why?" I ask, knowing I don't need to say anything else. I just want to understand why the alpha could possibly want me, and why this beta wanted to take me. I’m nothing. They should have taken anyone else.
"It's you or my sister. I am sorry for this. I truly am," he replies, and I can tell he really is sorry from his tone alone. I struggle to keep my eyes open much longer, feeling myself drifting off and waking up every now and then as we ride. The side of my head aches, sending little sharp stabs of pain through my head every so often. Eventually, it becomes easier to stay awake as we run through the forest when, suddenly, we come to a halt near a creek.
"Are we stopping?" I ask. I know there is little chance I can escape this man, and where would I really go anyway? Back to the Alpha Brothers who I clearly mean nothing to? No, I can’t do that. I swallow the pain that is deep in my heart and force myself to forget it.
"The horse needs a break. We have been riding for a day," the man tells me. He ties the horse near the creek on a branch before he pulls me off the horse and carries me, placing me so I am resting with my back against the tree. I look up at my captor, seeing his black wavy hair first, then his bright blue eyes and strange black markings on his cheeks that look like daggers. His outfit is all leather pressed tight against his muscular form, and he is covered in weapons. It makes me wonder how he got into the pack looking like this, looking nothing like anyone in the pack. Those marks on his face must have been difficult to hide.
"How did you get into the pack?" I ask, curious about this stranger and figuring I might as well get to know him before he hands me over to whoever wants me.
"Do you want a drink?" he replies, ignoring my question.
"No, now answer me. You are taking me to my death, so who am I going to tell?" I say, and he smirks. There is something almost attractive about his smile.
"If you drink some water, I will answer," he counters. I don’t understand why he cares, it makes me want to understand him more.
“Deal, but only if you tell me your name,” I ask.
“River,” he replies, offering me a flask of water. I lift my tied hands, showing him there is no way I can hold the water. “I will untie them, but don’t try anything. I don’t want to hurt you. To answer your first question, I got into your pack easily, it was harder to get out but a friend helped me.”
“For a kidnapper, you are too nice,” I comment as he kneels in front of me and starts undoing the rope.
“I wasn’t trained to kidnap beautiful women. Especially women like you,” he says. “Ones that can’t fight off a wolf.”
“How old is your sister?” I ask, knowing it doesn’t really make a difference.
“Ten,” he says, his voice full of frustration and no doubt worry. “She is my last living relative. I’ve brought her up since our mother passed away five years ago.”
“I won’t run or fight. No ten year old deserves to die for me,” I say, resting my head back on the tree and flinching from the pain of the cut.
“You are making this worse, you know,” he chuckles as he releases my hands. “It would be easier if you were a bad person.”
“I’m not a good person,” I reply.
“Yeah, you are. In this world, you are a star in a very dark sky,” he tells me, locking his eyes with mine before shaking his head and standing up. He hands me the bottle of water, and I drink some as River messes around with the bags on the back of the horse.
“Why did your mother name you River?” I ask, seeing him freeze up and look back at me.
“She said my eyes reminded her of the river that flows behind her old home,” he explains to me.
“It’s a lovely name,” I reply as he comes back to me, holding up a new flask of water and a cloth.
“The girl hit you harder than was needed. I should clean this up,” he says, sitting next to me, and I grab his hand as he goes to touch my head wound.
“What girl?” I ask him, surprised that he doesn’t push me away, and instead he gives me a sympathetic look.
“I can’t tell you more. Let me help you at least,” he suggests.
“Because it will make you feel better?” I ask, still holding his hand.
“Yes,” he simply replies, and I let his hand go, shifting on my side and letting him treat my cut. I can guess it was Misty that did this to me, and that means the Alpha Brothers are in danger. I hate how it hurts and how I want to save them even though I know they will never save me.
Chapter 28
Alpha
“I love your tower. It’s convenient, but maybe we could extend it in the future,” Misty suggests as I shut the door behind me. Letric sits on the sofa, ignoring us all, lost in his dark thoughts. I know my brothers didn’t want to play along with this, but El can’t mean more than the war. Being brought up the way we were, I’d hoped they would understand this. Hurting Elodie is a price we have to pay, and it’s not like she won’t forgive us when we tell her the truth. She is ours.
I don’t want to play this ridiculous game. Misty won’t tell us anything, Letric mutters into my mind.
Maybe she won’t, but we have to know. Has Mary found Elodie yet? I reply, concerned she didn’t come back since this morning. My wolf nearly made me shift from its burning anger at treating Elodie the way I did. We both know what she is, love who she is, and know we have to get these answers for her. We do it all for her and for this world. If Elodie is who I think she is, then she is the most important person in this world.
No, no one has seen her. Alaric is looking now. If she leaves us, this is your fault. You didn’t have to go that far, Letric spits out. He won’t forgive me any time soon. He thinks we should have just explained everything.
Elodie won’t leave us, and I had no choice. Misty followed her and was hiding, listening in. She had to think Elodie was out of the way, I tell him what he already knows.
“Did you hear me? When I’m alpha female I want more colors in here. Nice fur rugs and things like that,” Misty says, repeating everything she said this morning when she came to give me breakfast at the crack of dawn. Elodie thought I’d somehow managed to put up with her for a whole night or even touched her. I only want one woman, and currently that woman hates me. I will fix it though. Misty walks over to me, swaying her hips with every step in a way I no doubt believe she thinks is attractive.
“Will you give me what I want?” she asks, stopping right in front of me and placing her hands on my chest. I tilt my head to the side as I see the chain on her neck and recognize it just as Misty leans up to kiss me. I grab her throat with my one hand, lifting her in the air as she squeals and scratches my arms to get me off. I carefully pull the necklace hidden under her dress, seeing the bronze wolf and heart on the chain.
“Where did you get that?” Letric asks, snatching it out of my hand, his voice deadly.
“Sh-she g-gave me it!” Misty coughs out, though I know she is lying. Elodie loves that necklace, she told me as much from how she held it in her hand. She would never give it up. Elodie is missing, and Misty clearly hates her for the same reason I pretended to give a damn about Misty. I wanted to reject the Ruxan Alpha’s offer the moment it left his lips, knowing if we really needed an alpha female, we could have one in a heartbeat. We would just make a mate. A true born alpha female is rare but also deadly. Alpha females can easily rule a pack without a male alpha at their side. Misty is nothing but a threat I never wanted to deal with until I met Elodie.
“Who is Elodie? What did your mother really do with that baby?” I ask, and her wide, scared eyes are answer enough. I was right. I keep squeezing her neck until it crushes under my hand, blood splattering everywhere, and I drop her body to the floor.
Alaric, did you hear? I send a message to my brother; his roar projected through my mind is answer enough.
Good. Find the Ruxan alpha and alpha female. Bring them here, I demand, and even though he doesn’t reply, I know he will. I look over to Letric, his thoughts a swirl of guilt, love and pain as he stares at the necklace.
“What do you want me to do? She will be long gone, and if he knows who she is…we both know where Elodie will be,” he says, and I tighten my hands into fists, fighting off the shift. My wolf wants to hunt what is his. So do I.
“He knows. He always fucking knows,” I growl, watching Letric slide the necklace over his head. “Ring the war bell. We form an army tonight, and we get back what is ours.”
“Yes, brother.”
Chapter 29
Elodie
I don’t know when I drifted off to sleep, resting my head back on River’s shoulder as we rode through the night and way into the next day. I never saw anything but trees, rocks, and well, more trees. I wriggle my nose as something wet lands on it. I open my eyes, seeing the snow falling all around us as we ride up a steep part of a stone path, the horse’s feet clanging against the stone. I shiver from the cold, noticing that River has placed his cloak around my shoulders while I slept. I pull it around my legs and hands, blinking through the snow as we get over the hill, and River stops the horse.
“Welcome to the Xan Pack. Otherwise known as hell that you can never escape from,” River mutters as I take in the size of the pack. It’s like someone has taken a big chunk out of the mountain, and then someone has built dozens of huts all the way up it. There are dozens of trees between the houses, with little pathways going off. There are two rivers, one forming a giant waterfall that goes through the pack, reminding me of River. The pack extends massively around the base of the mountain, and there is a long brown stone path that leads up to a big building near the top. The big building looks like a castle from my books, with massive pillars that stretch into the sky. Thick grey clouds hang in the sky, hiding the top of the mountains, and snow falls around us. It’s not thick snow, but still I feel cold and wet already.
“It’s remarkable…and big,” I say, and River chuckles.
“I’d make a rude joke, but I doubt it will make the situation any better for you,” he says, and I can’t help but laugh as he moves the reins and knocks his legs against the sides of the horse to lead us down the path to the giant stone gates under an archway of two wolves touching paws above it.
“Is the alpha going to kill me?” I ask, tightening my hands on the cloak.
“Death would be a mercy,” he warns. “If you get a single chance to kill yourself, do it. I say that because I care.”
“If you weren’t kidnapping me, I think we could be good friends,” I say.
“I am your friend. You are far braver than I could have expected you to be,” he replies. The idea that we are friends doesn’t help me feel better, but it does almost make me laugh. I didn’t know friends kidnapped each other and led them to their deaths.
“Bravery won’t save me,” I reply, feeling the fear building up inside me as we get closer to the doors. I know my death awaits me in here, but I can’t imagine the pain that I will suffer before death takes me away. I wonder if the physical pain could compare to the pain in my heart every time I think of the Alpha Brothers. Maybe it will be a good distraction.
“To die a brave death is one sought after by all those who recognize death’s price,” he whispers, surprising me a little as I remember that quote from a book I once read.
“Death’s price is nothing to chase, because those who are brave will only have death to embrace,” I reply the rest of the quote, and River’s arms tighten around me. We don’t say another word, leaving only this sad tension between us as we get to the gate, and the two stone doors open.
I look at the two guards as we ride past them into the pack, seeing their black leather outfits, dagger black marks on their cheeks, and large swords on their backs. The marks must be some kind of mark of the army maybe. I push all those thoughts aside as we ride through the pack’s lower town. We pass dozens of huts, brown stone houses and people walking about, ignoring us. Though I never see their faces because they all wear large cloaks with their hoods up, fending off the falling snow.
The path continues for a good ten minutes until we get to the other side where there is another pair of large stone doors. This time, there are four guards in black cloaks stood in front of the doors, and they lower their heads when they see us and move aside. The stone doors creak open slowly as we wait until there is a big enough gap that River rides the horse through. On the other side is only the same brown path we were on, with trees lining either side of the path, and every so often, there is a brown stone tower with a fire lit at the top, lighting the place up. The higher we ride up the mountain, the harder it becomes to wipe the snow out of my eyes. The air seems denser, harder to take in, though it all fades away when we get around a corner, and the biggest castle I’ve ever seen comes into view.
The castle is guarded by many wolves. The sight of the three pacing by the door and the two large brown ones who run past us, clearly making a patrol, scares me a little bit more than I already was before we got here. I breathe in a cold, shaky breath and exhale it into puffs of smoky air as River rides us right up to the front door. River climbs off the horse once he pulls to a stop and carefully helps me down before holding my arm as he walks me to the front door. He pushes the door open with his shoulder, dragging me inside with him.
The inside is warm, dimly lit and terrifying with every step we take down the entrance room and to the large stairs at the end. We walk up the stairs, passing two silent men in cloaks who wait at the sides and don’t even seem to notice we are there. The top of the stairs leads to a throne room, which is the only description I can think it would be called. The ceilings are high, and the walls are covered in windows. The windows are stained glass pictures showing wolves fighting, glowing symbols, and a whole lot of blood that gives the room a red glow. I pull my eyes to the only man in the room, sitting on a throne as we walk down the red runner in the middle of the room. The shadows hide his face, so I can only see his muscular build, long cloak, leather trousers and big black boots. A flash of red reflects off something on his head, making me think he has a crown to go with this room. He acts like a king or something, when he is just an alpha.
