The Alpha

Chapter 4

'Don't go. I cannot trust that man. I am not going. I'd be stupid to go.' Resting atop my bed, my hands clutched in my lap as my gaze sweeper across my room to the window where the night sky loomed. The moon was high in the sky, the light streaming in through the window, causing prickling along my skin and a sense of longing that winded me. 'This whole town is weird. It has me feeling and acting completely bizarre. Maybe it was a mistake coming here.'
I was startled when the word 'no' popped into my mind, a deep gruffed tone that resembled a voice I've heard before but unsure I could correctly pinpoint. I shook my head, dispelling my raging thoughts, in the hopes to wind down into a peaceful sleep and forget about Luca. 'Luca... He thinks I'm going to go back. Like I can't resist him.' I snorted dramatically, the sound bereft of actual annoyance in my empty room, but despite it's vacancy, so didn't feel alone. 'I always feel like someone's watching me as of late.'
My hand stroked my throat, the memory of strong hands encircling it, a violent entity in my mind. 'I honestly thought I was going to die.' The word 'never' popped into my head, again in that gruffed voice, and I shook my head atop my bed. I couldn't help but bite my lip nervously as my eyes shifted to the clock on the bedside table. The red lights blinked 11 pm, and I suddenly became restless. 'Now is not the time for insomnia. I have to get up and look for a job tomorrow. Otherwise, we won't be eating fairly soon... and it's hard to live without sustenance.'
I gritted my teeth when I presented the question I have been avoiding, aloud. "Would it really be that bad?" I hopped off my bed, a sharp shake of my head as I paced the floor. 'Yes it would. But I might get answers. This whole situation has made no sense, and the least he could do was elaborate. Tell me why he's protecting his uncle. Maybe I could realize why I feel this pull towards him... why he invades my mind all day and I found myself almost hopping in the car? No, I could never admit that. Ever. A man like him, could never be with someone like me. We are complete opposites. I don't know where this attraction comes from. I keep to myself. I'm-I'm plain.'
Swiftly, aggression spiked within me, and I glared at my empty room, a hiss leaving my lips. When it died down, I placed a hand on my bed, and steadied my panting, until I calmed myself. 'What the hell was that?' I was shaken up. My arms encircled my waist as I moved back to the bed and began to sit on it. 'I'm just tired.' I frowned as my longing to leave grew. 'I don't want to give him the satisfaction.' My curiousness, and the strange connection I felt towards him dictated my next moves as I rose, and swiped my phone off the bedside table, before moving towards the door. 'I must be losing it, because I'm going.'
When I moved through my doorway, I was winded by a blast of heat that caused me to stumble backwards slightly, before reaching out to grasp the door frame to hold myself steady. 'What the? That was so weird.' I straightened myself, only to drop to my knees and curl in on myself when I was strucken by a pain so severe it made my heart palpate and my teeth grounded so hard, I was worried that I would chip them. 'Oh my god! The pain! I can't breathe it hurts so bad!'
The pain pulsated as it moved through me, spreading from my stomach outward to my limbs until I was writhing on the floor in agony. My head filled with pressure as my bones left like they were breaking. I opened my mouth and all that came out was a strangled gasp. 'Am I dying? Oh god I'm dying, aren't I?' My mouth went loose, body shaking from the violent stabbing feeling along my skin, until my vision began to spit with blackness. 'Ugh! Someone help me! It hurts so bad!' I wanted to scream for my mother or anyone who would have heard my pleads for life, but the pain peaked and I found myself fading into the black.
     A gentle swaying motion brought me back from sleep. There was no more pain. Just the rocking and the deep breaths of whoever was holding me. I sighed gently, fingers spreading against the firm surface, until I realized it was a familiar coarse stubble covered skin. 'I'm being carried? Not by my mom. Unless I'm dead.'
"I would not let you die."
'It is him!' I slowly pried my eyes open, the tattooed flesh of his chest and shoulder coming into view. My cheeks heated when I realized I had been gently stroking the flesh. 'He came? He saved me?'
"How?" Luca sighed, his grip tightening on me as he continued walking, but I couldn't make out my surroundings fully. The sky was slightly lit as morning slowly settled in, but the cool air slid over my exposed flesh causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. 'I hope it's the air causing the goosebumps emulsifying heat from his skin that made my head foggy.'
"Why did you save me? How did you know I needed someone..."
"You needed me." He stated that matter-of-factly, and the certainty made me quizzical. 'That's awfully cocky.'
"You? What are you talking about? I was at home... How did you even know what was happening?"
He was silent. The silence wasn't productive. It was a tension in his grip that shifted my body slightly away from him. 'I guess 'ask me anything' is a little bit of a stretch... now isn't it.'
"We are connected." I didn't expect him to answer. Now that he was, I felt even more confused. I twisted my neck, attempting to get a feel for my surrounding, eyes widening when I realized I was in the woods. "W-where are you taking me?"
"Home."
"What?"
My tongue went dry and I began to wriggle in his grasp. My heart began to beat erratically in my chest the deeper we went. "My homes the other way..."
'Oh my god, is he going to hurt me? He's taking me in the woods. I don't even know the guy and he's kidnapped me!'
"Ventura interrogate me fides? Regina meis. I will never hurt you. Nor will I let anyone lay a hand on you."
'Intense...' My need to know why was loud. A monstrous thought invaded my mind and pushed everything else out. "Why?"
"Because..." My eyes moved to the clearing of trees that surround a giant mansion. "You are mine. Body, mind and soul."
'His.' I tested that word on my tongue. "Yours."
"Yes."
"How? You just met me..."
I peered up at him, inhaling a sharp breath when his eyes leveled with mine and I was able to get a full view of their darkness, but they weren't black. They're deep red. Like the blood which pooled in the body after death. So dark it deceived the naked eye into thinking it was black. His eyes rattled me. "You've been my destiny from the moment you were born."
'I have no clue what he is talking about. Maybe he's crazy?'
"You will see." My foreboding anxiety made my chest tight. "You think I'm lying?" I nibbled anxiously on my lip. "Feel." He hissed the command. "Place your hand over my heart." Hesitantly I lifted my hand, wanting to appease his expectations of me, before I settled it over his chest. "Calm. I have no reason to lie to you."
"I will need more of an explanation." Hr snickered, and alike his laugh, I was alarmed by the humor. 'He doesn't seem like one to enjoy jokes.'
"My life is devoid of much amusement."
'Well, that doesn't seem like a life worth living.'
"It does have purpose though. To lead. To protect." He cleared his throat. "And that is enough."
     After a few more minutes, he closed the distance between us and the house, climbing the steps before he moved to the front door. "Can you walk?"
'I don't know. I just hope the pain doesn't come back.'
"The pains gone."
'Mind reader.'
"I am."
'What?' I realized I didn't say that out loud. "What? Can you hear what I'm thinking?" Luca ignored me and lowered my legs to the ground. "If you cannot walk do not hesitate to tell me. I will carry you, Rae."
I didn't understand where this need to take care of me came from, of why I was even letting a stranger guide me into the woods, but somehow, I trusted that he would keep his word and keep me safe. 'This is so unusual.' I tested my weight on my feet, releasing his arm before I watched as he waded into the house, the muscles in his back rippling with each step. The longer my gaze lingered on them, the more I came to admire him. 'So manly. I can only imagine...'
     Unwarranted images of him and I locked in a passionate embrace filled my head. He stopped a few feet ahead of me, his fingers flexing until his hands were closed fists and his breathing deepened. "Rae...." His warning tone didn't knock the thoughts out of my head, they only heightened with the way he uttered my name. He said it passionately. Like he would if he was completely buried inside of me to the hilt. "Fuck, Rae."
'I love the way he says my name... and I know I shouldn't.'
I imagined those powerful hands gliding along my bare skin, contouring each voluptuous ridge and edge, until he had committed my naked flesh into his memory to indulge in any time he thought of me. "We won't fucking make it to the room."
'What room? A bedroom...' A treacherous moan left my lips when I felt a feathery touch along my jaw. But no one was touching me, and the feeling came out of nowhere, and yet, I let it take over, stroking my neck, moving downward as if there were fingers actually touching me intimately. "Oh god..."
He whipped around, his chest heaving up and down in violent spurts. My gaze gracefully took in his sculpted pecs, the rigid abs, and downward until I got to that sweet massive erection in his jeans. 'He wouldn't fit. Especially since there's.... never been-'
"Intactus. No man will ever have you but me." He stalked towards me, his erection swaying in his jeans. It's length was shocking. Mid-thigh? "No man will be inside this sweet little flower. Only my shaft will feel you blossom and drool that nectar all over me."
'Where did he learn such dirty things?'
     My cheeks heated from his words, eyelids fluttering closed out of embarrassment. I gasped when I felt a hand on my chin, tilting my head until he commanded me. "Look at me. Show me those innocent eyes." I slowly opened my eyes, aware of how close he was; of how his heat ignited my core until I was dripping wet. "So naive... I will wipe that away. And then you will fully be mine." He stroked my bottom lip softly, and the feeling made my nerve endings fire, as my nipples hardened. "I'd like that."
"Not until it's time to have you."
'Time to have me? I didn't know there was a schedule.'
"Patience, vos anima mea."
"What does that mean?" He snickered and released my chin. "Come."
With a quick nod, he spun back around and I followed him as he moved through the house. The house was filled with sleek modern furniture, but somehow the house felt ancient. The smell of old oak, and incense filling my nose as I padded after him. 'I wonder who owns this house? Does he? If so? Why? Why would he need two houses?' Uncertainty laced with my expression, my face wrinkling with frustration. 'And where is he taking me?'
I scurried after him, attempting to keep u with his long strides, only to stop when we got to the lounge room that was scattered with people. I didn't know how I didn't hear them earlier, but now, immersed in the middle of the house, the noise finally reached my ears but began to die down as they all moved their gaze toward me. 'Oh no. This isn't a colt is it? I'm not about to be sacrificed, am I?' I believed Luca had left me to fend for myself as the hushed tones and obnoxious staring made me undeniably anxious. 'Who are these people?'
"These are our people, et nos unum sumus."
'He acts like I can speak whatever language it is he speaks.'
"Soon enough." He turned and reached out for my cheek, before his hand slowly slid to my neck, as he yanked me into him once again. Firmly to his chest, I had never felt I belonged before more than I had in that moment. 'Like his arms are my home.'
In the distance I heard a howl that broke the tension, and I was reminded at the almost attack at Luca's. That shift in the air caused me to jump back from him, and shake my head. 'I need to be level headed. Not fawning over a guy I've just met.'
"You keep denying your truth. That will end soon."
'Denying my truth? Does he always speak like a biblical character?' Luca grunted and stepped back from me. "Who are these people?"
I drifted my gaze around the room, spotting a few familiar faces from his house yesterday. The woman who'd been glaring at me. The zealous brunette guy, whose face had a permanent boyish grin, like he knew a dirty secret no one else was in on. There were three more people, a woman with deep chocolate colored skin and large dark eyes who was on guard, watching my every move, along with the Hispanic man that was almost the size of Luca. 'Is this some kind of club hangout for his friends?' Unease settled like stone in my gut. 'Maybe I should leave? We'll, he hasn't done a lot to ward me away yet. If I want answers, I should stay. This is my mother's hometown. It's strange but if she won't give me answers and tell me about what went down when she was younger I'll have to find them out for myself. This would probably be easier if Jaxon was here.'
"Where's Jaxon?" Luca's lip curled upwards, bearing his teeth as he made a deep, disgusted sound in his throat. "Jaxon... he's no concern of yours."
I almost believed Luca was jealous. His nostrils flared up, jaw set tightly as he clenched his teeth, and his breathing ragged. "Meus es tu!" I noticed the expressions around the room fall and became serious as Luca raised his voice, and it wasn't until that exact moment that I realized the power and dominion he held over this group. 'Something's not right.'
"I-I should go." I whipped around, feet at desperate haste as I moved back the way I came. I set my gaze straight ahead, unwilling to look back at Luca, because even though I couldn't hear him, I felt his presence behind me. 'I don't know why he brought me here, and frankly, I don't want to know.'
"I'm done with this whole stupid town. I need to have a conversation with my mother."
'She already doesn't like this place. It shouldn't be much work getting her to agree to move.'
"Rae!" He called to me as I spotted the front door and made a beeline for it. "Do not go out there!"
"You should've never brought me here..."
     My words were muttered low. I suspected he didn't hear me, and that was fine because I didn't want any real confrontation. I wanted freedom from the madness that was surfaced in my mind. "I'm telling you, do not go outside." I dismissed his warning tone, jogging down the front steps, before I lifted my gaze from the ground and screamed. My eyes moved over the two wolves hovering over a deer as they chomped loudly on its bloody flesh. 'Why does this keep happening? This is too damn weird!'
I felt Luca's hand on my shoulder, wrapping his arm around my waist to spin me into his chest and hid my eyes from the scene unfolding. "Sh..sh... anima mea, I warned you. I told you not to go. Not to leave me as you have."
"Luca... what the hell is going on?" My words were broken by the sobs stuck on my throat that I kept trying to suppress. Luca stroked my hair, a gentleness that seemed odd for a man of his size and mannerism, but it consoled me swiftly. "What is this? Why do I-"
     I didn't know how to finish that sentence. Why did I feel so drawn to him? Crave him animalistically. Why did contact with his skin ignite me, and make my head swarm with an array of images that I was unfamiliar with but evoked intense emotions. "Why can I not make any sense of this?"
"Because you cannot look at this with logical thought."
"What?"
"This. Everything we are is incomprehensible. You don't need to fear. These people are ours. Yours. They will not hurt you."
'What about the one that almost attacked me?'
"Didn't seem that way at your house." My words were muffled by his broad chest. "I have corrected him for that. Rest assured." I felt his rough fingers move over my back, and a deep sigh came from me. I swear I heard him curse 'Omega' beneath his breath but I didn't ask. "You don't need to run away."
"I-I just don't understand. Why me? Why all this? This hidden house? Everything?"
'I hate being frustrated! I'm gonna cry!'
When frustration took over, I felt tears stinging my eyes. I went to step back from him and hide my face from view so he couldn't see such a blatant display of weakness, but he didn't let me budge. His arms wrapped tighter around me. "Ask me what you need to ask me. Appease yourself, anima mea."
'Questions? Will he truthfully answer?'
"I will not deceive you."
"Fine. How did you know to find me?" He leaned into my hand, the stubble of his chest hair tickling my palm. I flexed my fingers, clenching my inner walls as he replied. "I could feel your pain."
'Wow.'
"Feel my pain? How?"
"We are connected. I've told you this."
"How are we connected?"
"Blood bound for each other."
'Okay... what the fuck!'
"What is this place?"
"Our home."
"You're being vague." Where wolves belong. A wolf's home. "What is with the damn wolves? It's dangerous to have them here... all of you guys could get hurt! Multiple times you've almost been attacked!"
His eyes gleamed with amusement and I wished for once I would be in on all the damn jokes that moved through his head. 'Am I the damn joke?' His eyes moved past me. I slowly followed his gaze as a wolf began to pant and yelp like it was in pain. That's when I saw it. Clear as day. 'No fucking way!' The bones started shifting, cracking into place, hair shedding into dark, familiar skin, until the wolf was gone and a man was in its place. I screamed.