The Alpha

Chapter 6

     When his lips made contact with mine and his feral growl vibrated his tongue against mine, I jolted awake from screams that pierced the house loud enough to break glass. I frantically scanned my room, sweat coated along my skin as I shoved my covers off and realized I was alone, and that Luca was nowhere to be found. 'It was just a dream. One he invaded. He's not really here... but someone's screaming. Oh no! My mom!'
     I lurched out of bed, stumbling in the blanket as my feet got tangled in it's trap, before I kicked it off and sprinted out into the hall. I listened to the sound of groans, my heart hammering frighteningly in my chest as I headed towards her bedroom and began to call to her. "Mom!"
'Please be okay.'
"Mom? Are you okay?" She didn't reply. Just another stretch of strangled moans as I pushed her door open and searched the room for her. She was crumbled at the foot of her bed, clutching her stomach, a pile of vomit beside her. I cringed, saliva pooling in my mouth as nausea flipped my stomach upside down. 'I never do well with vomit. I'm a sympathetic vomiter.' I kneeled before her, frowning when I noted her clammy, flushed skin and strange purplish tint to her body. 'Wh-why is she turning purple?'
     I clutched her chin, her mouth going slack as her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and a choked noise left her throat. "Oh my god! Are you choking!?" I looked in her airway and didn't see any obstructions, and that was when panic truly started to set it. 'No, no, no, no! I need to call someone!'
     I pressed my hands against her shoulders, attempting once more to rouse her from whatever sickly spell she was having, but she didn't respond. I climbed upward, off the ground into a standing position before I sprinted back towards my room in search of my phone. 'She's going to die. If they don't get here... She is going to die!'
     As soon as I got into my room, my eyes shrouded by morbid images of my lifeless mother. Dead. Buried. Grieving. I forced myself to take some steadying breaths before I began moving around my room, tossing papers everywhere, kicking clothes out of my way, ripping my bed apart. "Where is it?! Where the hell is it!?" I screeched in my room, fingers in my hair, pulling it away from my head as tears glided down my face. "I can't find it! I can't find the damn phone!" I sniffled, spinning around before I jogged back to my mothers room. My lip curled upwards petrified as I looked at her lifeless body. "Her phone."
     I silently cursed the fact I was a part of the age where house phones were basically obsolete as I moved through her bedroom, tossing her books onto the ground, yanking drawers open, rummaging through her clothes. 'What can't I find it?! Where the hell is it!'
"I can't find anything! Fuck!" I covered my mouth with my hand, lip quivering and nostrils glaring as I cried helplessly beside my mother. 'I could call him. Luca... I'm sure he'll come. She needs help.'
     I dreaded the fact that I had to rely on someone, but the longer my mother laid there in the throws of her possible demise, I realized I may not have a choice but to call upon my alpha. 'Luca! Please! I need you! My mother is hurt! I can't find the phones! I need someone to help me! Please! Come to me!'
     I expected his usual invasion. His gruff voice, a reassurance that everything was going to be alright, but I was met with silence. 'When I need him, he's silent.'
"Oh god..." I dropped to my knees in front of my mom, pressing my ear against her chest to listen for a heartbeat. I gasped excitedly when I heard hers faintly, but I was unsure of how long it would last until she succumbed to her sickness. "Oh mom, please don't go. I-I can't lose you. I just can't. I don't have anyone else. I don't. You're it."
"Rae, move."
     I sat up so fast it made my head spin, and I almost believed Luca's large frame, which swallowed the space of the door frame, was fake. A mirage. Until his heavy steps ringed around the room as he neared me. 'He came! He heard me!'
"Yes I did. I am yours. So I came."
'He's mine... and I barely know him.' It was weird, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. He gestured with a nod for me to move so he could assist my mother. I scurried upward, moving so he could have easier access to her. "Faex!" He pressed his hand against her neck, his thumb along the vein where her pulse was, before he let out a deep breath, and took action. He looped his arms underneath her, scooping her upward into them, before he stood and looked at me. "What are you doing? W-what's wrong with her?"
'Oh god, did she choke to death?'
     Hysteria surged within me and he shook his head. "She didn't choke. Let's go."
"A-are we going to a hospital?" He moved past me, wordlessly carrying my mother down the steps as I heard him mumbling words in Latin beneath his breath. 'Why won't he tell me? I need to know she's going to be okay. I need to know!' My eyes widened when I noticed his jeep out front. He managed to pull open the door without dropping her, and laid her on the seat gently. 'And I thought he didn't know how to be gentle.'
"Rae, get in."
"Where are we going? A hospital? She needs medical attention, Luca!" He huffed frustratedly, yanked open the passenger door and nodded. "In. Now."
"Why won't you tell me? If I really am that valuable to you, tell me!"
     He growled, stalking towards me before he looped his arms around my waist, lifted me and brought me towards the passenger seat. "Luca! Let me down! I'm not a child!" I attempted to wriggle out of his grasp to no avail. 'God, he's freakishly strong.'
"Luca! Stop! You can't just force me in!"
"I am trying to help your mother and you're making it difficult. Do you want my help or not?" I nodded slowly, very aware of how I was pressed against his body, in a way that made me grind against his powerful thigh. My face heated up with embarrassment at this notion, and so inwardly reprimanded myself for getting turned on when my mothers life was at stake. "Yes.... I do."
"Okay, then get in the damn jeep."
     He set me down next to the jeep, and guilt crashed into me as I realized me throwing a fit would prolong the time it took to get my mother proper help. I climbed into the passenger seat, too ashamed of myself for calling to question his actions, after he showed up, and not trusting him to handle things. 'It's okay... he's bringing her to the hospital. We're going to get her help. Everything is going to be fine.' I rested a hand on my stomach, hoping the knots would untwist. 'She' s not dead... and she's not going to die. I won't let her.'
     I stared intensely at the road, hating the fact that I had no clue where anything was. 'So even if I wanted to bring her to the hospital, I wouldn't be able to. I hate feeling helpless!'
"You're not helpless. So as long as I have breath in my body, I will help you."
'Intense.'
"Mating is intense."
'Mating... such an animal kind of word. Like a bunch of stray dogs.'
     I winced when I heard the squeak of hands tightening around the leather steering wheel. I dared a glimpse at him, firming my lips embarrassingly when I noticed tension corded in his muscles, his shoulders were high up, and his jaw was clenched. 'Oops. I didn't mean that..'
"You have a lot to understand, Rae."
'Understanding any of it scares the hell out of me.'
"Our bond goes deeper than just some humping in the wild."
"Humping in the wild?"
     I blushed, casting my gaze out the window to avoid his vibrant ruby eyes which had begun to glow at the mention of humping in the woods. My thoughts were carried back to when he pulled me on top of him yesterday, almost taking my virginity in front of the entire pack. 'No way in hell could I handle people watching that!'
"You will."
'Intruding my thoughts.'
"I will not." He shook his head, turning down a dark road. I took this chance to glance at him, eyes moving quickly over his muscular frame and gorgeous features. 'I'm morphing into someone who's obsessed with appearances aren't I...'
"Think whatever you want Rae. When the time comes, you will willingly spread your legs for me and offer me that sweet flower."
'The only flower you're getting is a wild flower somewhere in the woods, away from me if you think I'm going to lose my virginity on a bed of dirt surrounded by trees and the hungry eyes of dogs.'
"Enough!"
     He slammed his hand on the steering wheel and I frowned, wrapping my arms around myself. "Vos postulo discere: your naivety is exhausting." His words were a slap in the face. I nibbled angrily on my lip and flared out of the car. "Sorry to frustrate you with my immaturity..." He didn't respond, instead he pulled off toward a group of trees and that's when I realized we've gone farther out from civilization. I panicked, glancing around rapidly. "Luca, where are we?" He didn't answer as he parked, and turned off the ignition. "Luca! Where the hell are we?!"
     He opened his door, climbing out of the jeep before moving to the back door and opening it. I scrambled to open the door and hopped out. "Luca! Stop!" I ran over to him. "What the hell are you doing?" I implanted myself in front of him as he growled. Actually growled. And despite the fact I knew he was a wolf too, I was still startled by the sound, like my brain was still trying to comprehend the sight before me. "You need to trust me. Move out of my way." I stepped out of his way. "Your mother is sick. Egestas."
"What?"
"A curse."
     My eyes bulged at his words as he moved to carry her from the car. I spotted his house, the one his uncle was in. I swallowed nervously. "We-we have to go in there?"
"Calm yourself, Rae." I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. "I can hear your heart pounding. I can assure you nothing will happen."
'I don't want to go in there... I almost died last time and I'm supposed to take his word for it?'
     I was surprised when Luca moved back from the car before grabbing my mother, and wrapped his fingers around my wrist, bringing my hand to his chest. He pressed his forehead against mine. "Feel. I'm not lying to you." I gasped when he spread my fingers over his chest, and I felt the steady rhythm of his heart. "We are bound."
'But what about before?' He 'tsked' his tongue, licking his bottom lip. "You did lie to me. You told me your uncle didn't attack me." He sighed. "Once. And only once. And you saw right through it... because we are connected. It physically pains me to lie."
'Is that why he just stays quiet when I ask him certain things?' He nodded. "It's better to remain silent."
     I nodded slowly, unsure of what else to say before he stepped back and turned back to the jeep to grab my mom. "And how will this help her?"
"Because... she needs to be near my uncle."
"Your uncle?" He nodded. "Her intended mate."
     Confusion twisted my facial expressions, staring after him as he moved towards the house with my mom in his arms. 'Her intended mate? I cannot even believe any of this... If she's one of them, how come I haven't seen her shift? She's never even remotely given me the impression that she had an inner dog just waiting to be free.'
     I hurried after them, arms wrapped around my body as I shook my head with disbelief. The closer I got to the front door, the more alarm bells went off in my head, but Luca's presence was still in my head, and for some reason as soon as I got to the door, a strange sense of calm settled on me, and my heart beat calmed as well as my breathing. His voice was in my head. "Just breathe anima mea. Breathe."
     I obeyed, taking slow deep breaths until they were steady and I felt comfortable enough to enter the house. I followed him to the living room where he laid my mother on the couch. "Watch her." He instructed, before he disappeared. I moved towards my mom, watching as her chest rose and fell. I was afraid if I took my eyes off it, she'd stop breathing altogether. It was a ludicrous thought, but I remained by her side, making sure she was still breathing until Luca arrived. "How can you help her?" He moved next to me, something clutched in his hands. I quirked a questioning brow. "What the hell is that?"
     Luca grunted, leaning over my mother to offer a cup with thick liquid in it. I grabbed his arm, stopping him from bringing it to her lips. "Luca, don't ignore me. What the hell is that?" By his apprehension, I was afraid of what he was going to say. "Blood." I was utterly mortified by his response. "She's not having that. No damn way. Blood? Whose blood!" He glared at my hand, before he reached for it and pried my fingers off his wrist. "Ethan's blood."
"Who the hell is that?"
     I stopped, moving in front of me. "This again?"
"Who's blood is that, Luca? Who's Ethan?"
"My uncle. The man your mother is blood bound to. She needs this... now are you going to step aside and let me give it to her?" I let him give her the blood. I swallowed, hoping my nausea didn't force me to vomit in his living room as the dark liquid painted her lips. 'I literally can't believe this is really happening... my mother is drinking blood. The blood of a strange man. I've just put all my faith in a man I barely know and —'
"You are a quiet one. Innocent even. Yet completely frustrating." He grunted, before he pulled the glass from her lips and stood. "That should help for now."
"For now?"
     I examined my mom, noting how her color was slowly returning. 'Oh my god... is it really working?'
"Yes it's working. Like I said... there's a lot you need to understand."
"I'm not sure I want to be enlightened."
"You will have no choice."
"I have no choice? So I get no say if I join this world of monsters and blood?"
     He growled low in his throat, stepping toward me, an intimidating monstrous man. Yet, the closer he got, the deeper my longing became. It started as a warm sensation that spread from my toes to my head, igniting my core until I was throbbing and dripping for him. "Dripping huh?"
"Get out of my head."
"I enjoy your mind." I hugged angrily, glancing one more time at my mother before I stormed out of the room, and towards the front door, no real designation. "Rae! Stop!"
     He called after me, that booming authority that made me shiver, laced within his tone. A growing need to obey and submit to him filled me, but I hit my lip, unwilling to succumb. I was almost to his car when I stopped. Luca intimidatingly pressed himself against me. "Why? Why me?"
"Because it was always you." Those words rang on repeat in my ears. 'It was always me.'
"Regardless if you want to deny it, your body will always betray your stubborn mind. This body."      He moved his hand over my chest. "This heart. You've been destined for me... That's why the pain is gone when you're near me. Why I'm all you can think about. Hell, I can smell how aroused you are every time I enter a fucking room anima mea. So potent. So wet."
     He pressed his nose against my hair and inhaled. "So mine." Those words were growled, and I clenched my inner walls. 'I hate how the thought of being his excites my body... How my nipples are painfully hard in my bra.'
"Fuck... Rae."
'How every time I see his mouth and watch him lick his lips, I imagine that soft tongue swirling around my hardened bud.'
"Yes."
     He hissed the word, and I found my resolve dissipating into nothing but pure lust. He wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me into him, lowering his head until our lips were almost touching, and the longer I stood, in his hold, the more my defiance ebbed away and I was left panting with a hot, sticky need. "And when it is time —" he grabbed my hand placing it on his neck before he gently squeezed my waist. "You will submit to me completely."