The Alpha

Chapter 8

     My mothers screams filled the house, awakening a possession in Luca that even I was startled by. He inserted himself between my mother and I, chest heaving as he panted, a murderous gaze on his face as he stared down at her like she was a threat. 'What is he doing?'
"Luca?"
I reached for his shoulder and he covered my hand with his, before pulling it off his shoulder and pushing it behind his back so I remained separated from my mother. I was in shock, blinking rapidly at the scene unfolding in front of me as if it wasn't real. 'Is he trying to protect me from my own mother? This is insane. The way he is? I doubt he'll move..'
My heart fluttered quickly in my chest at the realization that he put himself between me and potential danger. 'Not that my mother is danger.' The notion still did something inside of me, and I found myself drawn to him, my hands encircling his waist as he took deep breaths and finally spoke. "Are you okay, Rae?"
"Um, yes. Yes. I'm okay, Luca."
"Anima mea, I will protect you until my heart stops beating."
'Very dramatic. As usual.'
I tried to act like his words didn't completely make me all warm and fuzzy but I wasn't fooling anyone. "My queen. Stay behind me."
"Rae? What the heck is going on?" My mother glared angrily at Luca and I dropped my arms. "He should be the one you're scared of! Him and —" My mother's voice died down at the sound of floorboards creaking. Her head snapped sideways and that was when I followed her gaze and saw him. 'Ethan. His uncle.' His uncle didn't look as sickly anymore. In fact, the change was miraculous. Life and vitality filled him as he entered the room, his eyes mirroring the dark, blood red that Luca's did. So black it was the blood of the dead. My hands moved towards my throat instinctively and I moved around Luca towards my mom. "You. Ethan.."
Her voice was a startled whisper, as she wrapped her arms around me and yanked me to her side, dragging both of us towards the corner farther from Ethan. "No. I thought you were dead."
"Rae, come here." He reached out to me as much as I hated it, my body immediately felt an electric pull to go into his arms. A strange sense of safety lingering within his palm. 'Ethan attacked me.' That's when I heard Luca's voice in my head, invading my private thoughts once more. 'Come. He will not hurt you.'
I moved towards Luca, aware of how my mothers hands tightened on my arm as she spoke to me with a shaky voice. "Honey, don't. It's not safe with... them. There are things you don't understand."
"What things?"
"Rae, come." Luca stepped forward and my mother pulled me back, shaking her head. "Trust me. It. Is. Not. Safe."
The confidence behind those four words made me apprehensive to go into Luca's arms. I swallowed the lump in my throat, aware of Ethan's wolfish expression shifting from my mother to me. His eyes moved to my throat and my face fell. 'He's thinking about the night he almost... Almost killed me.'
"You look so much like your mother."
'Okay, that's enough...'
"I think it's time we leave."
"Leave? I won't allow it."
"Allow it?"
'Does he think he has a say?'
"I do. You are mine and I am yours. I must protect you and I cannot do that if you're miles away from me."
'Distance is what I need.'
I glanced at my mother, a twinge of anger in my heart that she looked so startled. 'Distance is what we all need.'
"No."
"You're back." When Ethan finally spoke, my insides became ice, his gritty, low voice barely sounding human. 'Oh god. He sounds like a...'
'Monster? Rae, you are not in danger.'
"I've waited years, Cora."
"Not enough years." Ethan let out a deep, throaty laugh that sounded devoid of humor and made the hairs along my body stand on end, while I remained on edge. "And yet you're back."
"Not for you."
He took a daring step towards me, and my mother tensed beside me. "You and I both know you will do as destined."
"Never."
"I see you've been suffering too..." He nodded towards my mother, eyes moving over her weakened frame, before I saw his tongue circle his lips. "I miss that fire within you."
"Stop it. Now."
"You were supposed to be mine." He took another step. "Not his."
"Enough."
"Even after death, he still claims what is mine."
"Ethan, enough!"
She sharply shook her head before Luca moved in front of us both and faced his uncle. "Ethan, that is enough." Ethan narrowed his eyes at his nephew, as if Luca was a child he would need to reprimand — one who didn't deserve the respect he staked claim to, by commanding his uncle. "She's mine." Ethan growled, and that's when I finally decided enough was enough. I made eye contact with my mother and whispered to her quickly. "Let's go." I moved before Luca responded to his uncle, towards the front door quickly. I heard Luca curse before his voice was in my head again. 'Rae, anima mea. Stay with me.'
'I cannot.'
'Yes, you can. I will take you to the woods. Where you belong.'
'I need to be with my mother.'
'You know what happens when we are apart.'
He didn't have to spell it out for me. The pain had left a mental scar within me that couldn't be healed. At the mention of it, my breathing hitched in my throat from fear and my footing faltered when I ripped open the door and hurried down the steps. "Rae, you are to never come back here. Never. It was a mistake coming here. Let's go."
"Mom, if you know about everything, then you must know..."
"You will not be destined to a life of servitude and misery."
"Misery?"
"Not while there is breath in my body."
"But what about the curse?"
She stopped when she got near Luca's jeep, whipping around with wide arms. Rain sprinkled down on us. "I don't know what you want me to say. No curse is worse than the pain you will endure if you submit." Her voice cracked and she let her arms drop down at her sides. "The loss you will endure. It's torture." She clutched her chest, as if she was trying to claw away at her own pain but it was encapsulated inside of her heart where it slowly ate at her. "What are you talking about? How come you never told me about these things? Huh? What is Ethan talking about?"
'I deserve to know.'
She nibbled on her bottom lip, avoiding eye contact with me, until I huffed angrily and firmly demanded she be truthful once again. "Mom! Tell me!"
"I didn't tell you because I was protecting you, and if that makes you hate me, well then that is a consequence I have to deal with because right now, I will not have this discussion. You will trust me because I am your mother." She was hysterical when she reached for my arms and shook me gently. "I really don't want you coming back here. Promise me, Rae!"
"I-I promise!"
The words left my mouth the more frazzled she became. I didn't want to upset her further, but the moment the words left my mouth, Luca's voice was a few feet away from me. "She will return." My mother snapped her head at him, lip curling with disdain, as her hands clenched into fists. "I will do whatever it takes to keep my daughter safe. Even if that means moving her far away from —"
A growl that would have scared a damn grizzly bear erupted from Luca's lips and he was moving before my mother could pick her sentence back up where she left off. She gasped when he got in front of me and scooped me up in his arm, throwing me over his shoulder as he spun and began towards the woods where the mansion awaited. I was dazed as he continued to carry me, until my mom's voice boomed at him from behind. "You let my daughter go now! Let her go or so help me, I will dial 9-1-1 right now!" He hissed frustratedly at my mother but continued walking. "You think I'm bluffing? I will tell them you've hurt us. Kidnapped us! She does not belong with you!"
Luca halted, whipping around with me in his arms. "Let her go now."
'This has gotten out of control. And she's so upset... I feel bad. My body is so treacherous when he's around.' Luca sighed, loosening his hold before he let me slide down his body where my feet planted back on the ground. "Your daughter is my mate."
"No she is not. Tell him, Rae." I shifted my eyes between the two of them, feeling like I was torn between whatever supernatural pull I felt with Luca and the duty of being a good daughter to the only parent I ever knew — ever could rely on. "Not my mate?"
My mother reached for me, dragging me back towards his car. I felt the ground shaking just from the power of Luca's steps. "I am her Alpha!" I whipped around when I got near the car, and Luca wasted no time before he cupped the side of my face, his lips touching mine hungrily. I wanted to keep a guarded facade in front of my mother, afraid of the ridicule of disagreeing with her. 'I don't want to disappoint her.' Luca's voice was in my head once again. 'Mine!'
The moment his lips touched mine there was an electricity that commanded my body with his, like I was a puppet with the strings attached to him. A condemning moan rumbled in my throat and I found myself desperately kissing him back, a needy heat filling me until I was saturated, and ready for the blunt entrance of his hardened member. 'What the hell am I doing? I'm kissing him in front of my mom!' A groan left his lips and he bit my bottom lip. I tasted the metallic tang of my blood. Instead of utter disgust, I felt pleasure explode throughout my body. 'Oh, he feels so good. I want him to devour me.'
I didn't know where that animal-like thought came from but as if he felt the same rough passion, he grabbed a hold of my hand and moved it to his pants where my fingers hooked in the waistband of his jeans and tugged down, his happy trail heading to that eager meat in his pants. "Rae." He groaned my name, and he was all I felt and heard. All I breathed. He was everywhere and I was so fucking glad. When my fingers brushed his bulge, his eyes fluttered closed and he growled. 'He is mine. I am his.' My mother's voice was a crude awakening. "Rae! Stop it!"
'Oh my god, my mom! She's been watching.'
I pushed him away, fingers moving to my lips where I planned to wipe them but instead, I ended up caressing them like my fingers were imitating his tongue, sweeping along them. "S-sorry. I'm sorry."
"Rae, please." My mother's hand was outstretched. Her brows were furrowed hopefully. "Let's go, honey. It's what's best." I sighed, frowning as I slowly nodded. "Rae-"
'I'm sorry.' He stared at me with pain in his eyes. He reached for my hand. "My soul. Don't leave me. You are everything."
I almost refused to let go of his hand, but ultimately, I loosened my fingers around his hand and shook my head, moving past him before his words could convince me. That's when I realized he had driven us here. 'Oh crap.'
"Mom, I didn't drive." Her jaw clenched as she peered at the road. "We can walk." She took a step and swayed slightly as I realized that the effects of the blood was wearing off. "Take my jeep."
"What?"
"Take it."
"But how will you—"
"Don't worry about it."
He shoved his hand in his back pocket, pulling his keys out and offering them to me. I stared at his palm, glancing at my mother, surprised that she hadn't said anything. I took his keys, before nodding. "Thank you." He reached for my cheek, caressing my face gently, while grazing his thumb against my skin. "My gentle Rae." I found my eyes fluttering closed as I leaned into his touch savoring the moment while I could, hoping that the feeling of his hold would linger. "I'll stop at nothing."
His last words made my eyes shoot open but he didn't repeat them, and I didn't ask. Instead, with a will I conjured out of nothing, I spun around, nodded to the jeep and climbed into the driver's seat without daring a glance at him. 'Because if I look at him it'll all be over. I'll cave. And my mother will be alone. And I can't have that.' I drove away without a glance, but a part of me remained back there with him. The emptiness inside of me began to spread with its stinging promise of pain.
When I was home, I contemplated where to leave the keys, knowing if they were somewhere in the house, Luca would have to find his way to me, but also knowing my mother's stance on everything, I clutched the keys undecided for a moment. 'So if I leave them in the mailbox I'll be done with him, but if I keep them inside, well... then I'll have a reason to see him. Someone could steal the car...' I formed my lips at the thought of someone daring to steal Luca's jeep, before I curled my fingers around the keys and decided it was best to keep them close so that didn't happen. 'And whatever happens, happens.'
Finally, safely behind both doors, I followed my mother into the kitchen. "I don't know how you kept that from me..."
'Is she really one to pass judgement about keeping things from people?'
"Keep it from you? I still don't know the half of it... why did you not tell me about Ethan and wolves and the whole damn thing?" She scuffed and moved to get a drink from the fridge. "It was to protect you."
"To protect me? Look how well that turned out! I ended up finding out anyways."
"I wanted more for you."
"More?" I widened my arms angrily, glancing around. "What more? A curse that decays my damn body when I refuse my destiny?"
"Stop calling it that."
"Well it is. I am supposed to be with Luca. I can feel it. The pull. The need. It's crawling around inside of me, and if I refuse it'll bite and I'll writhe in pain. And that pain will go on and on forever, until I am nothing but fucking screams and ash!" She flinched at my words. "Enough of the bullshit!"
Shock lined my mothers mouth as I yelled at her. Both of us were not ones to yell but this town has brought about many crazy things from me lately. "I want the truth... everything. Or else —" My mind reeled with what I could attach to the end of that sentence, and the longer I stared at my mothers alarmed eyes, it finally dawned on me. "I will go. I will leave here. Leave you and you will never see me again."
'I know that scares her.' She inhaled a sharp breath, frowning at me, before a far away look moved over her face and it was as if I wasn't in the room anymore. "I can't take anymore loss."
"Then tell me."
"Alright, I'll tell you."
I could feel her reluctance. Seeing it in the way she slowly moved to the living room and I followed her, alarmed as I peered at her back before sitting on the couch. "When I was your age, it started."
"What did?"
"The itch."
"The itch?"
"That's what I call the pull that you feel between Luca and yourself. Only, it started with Ethan and I, and I had no damn clue what that meant. I had no clue... what he was."
"A wolf." She stared at me blankly for a second. "Except I had fallen in love..."
Her lip quivered, her voice cracking as her eyes became glossy and she diverted her vulnerable expression in a different direction to appease her own anxiety. "With who?"
"Your father. And when Ethan found that out, found out that I was denying him as my mate. That I'd rather be with someone else and ensure the curse, than spend one moment as his property, he lost control." She sniffled. "He killed him. Your father... and I ran as fast as I could. As far away as I could."
"So why'd you come back?"
My mom shook her head slowly, clasping her hands in her lap. "I thought he was dead. And I thought that if I was just in town — the curse — would subside. The pain would end. The rot and the damn decay."
'But it didn't. It got even worse.'
"I tried to debunk what I thought was a myth, but I know now. The only thing that can be done is the one thing I will never do. I must mate with him."
"Why? Why must we mate with them? Why the desperation?" She laughed mirthlessly, the sound was odd. "Because, they do not fully change if we do not submit."
"They don't fully change?" I arched my confused brows. "Into.... Wolves?"
She shook her head, before rubbing the back of her neck. "They never make the full transition into wolves. Their key is our blood during the blood moon. Our ritual... our acceptance. So if we deny, we die. We all die."
"Is that the — the pain?" She looked at me with sorrow. "Yes... what you are feeling is the connection between you two. The consequences of denial. The inability to change is painful, like something eating you alive from the inside but there's no way to let it out."
'So Luca has never changed into a wolf?' She shook her head. "Not completely. And thank goodness."
"Why?"
"Because by then, you won't be able to deny him any longer. You will be his. Fully."