The Alpha

Chapter 10

I knew Luca wouldn't budge on his decision, but my devastation didn't lessen. All three of us began marching through the woods, determination in each powerful stride, Luca's hand gripped mine firmly to help guide me through the dark trees. 'He can't leave me. What if - No. I have to trust that he will be okay. I mean just earlier I was telling him that I couldn't be his mate. And now suddenly I'm clinging to him? This is exactly what I wanted to avoid, especially with the fragile state of my mother.'
     Luca had tension in each step. I felt the powerful vibration of his anger emanating from his body, until I, too, vibrated with the same toxic energy. 'Who knows, maybe I can convince him. Maybe.'
"Luca, I don't think you should go."
"Rae, we already discussed this." I grabbed his arm, gently stroking it as I was filled with the urge to comfort him. "We haven't discussed it enough. I want you to reconsider."
"Reconsider? That is not the way of a wolf. Our decisions are made based on blood and power. The Silver Crest pack has wronged me for the last time."
'Blood and death? And I'm just supposed to sign on and agree to fully immerse myself in this world? That sounds reckless and foolish.' His voice entered my mind. 'That is our way.'
'But that's not my way. I come from a place of calm disagreements. I don't know how to be some aggressive dog.' He sighed and I didn't know it was a lost cause. His mind was made up, and if I had learned anything about him, Luca wasn't one for much compromise. When he wanted something, he took it. When he believed he was right he didn't adhere to the opposition. 'I guess being Alpha is perfect for him. But being his queen, the one to rule by his side to command the attention of others, just isn't me.' When the mansion came into the clearing, I heard howls shatter the eerie silence, until the night was awakened by them. "The pack."
"Yes."
     Just as I got close to the door, I heard twigs snap, and the sound of animals moving through the shadowed trees. My immediate response was fear, but with inward words of encouragement, I managed to get my heart back down to a steady pace as I stuck to Luca's side. "Calm, my Rae. Everything will be alright."
'Sure it will.' Luca stopped before I got to the door, and spun us both around so he could address the eyes upon us both. Some in wolf form, others naked in human form. The sight was absolutely chilling. "The Silver Crest pack thinks they can respond to rules we've upheld for the past few years! We will remedy that!" Snarling from the pack startled me and Luca continued. "Tonight - we will go to them - and we will revenge Ethan! And we will leave nothing but ash."
'Oh my god... When he's like this it's like he's a completely different person, and although I'm frightened out of my mind, I found that I was overwhelmed with the need to howl.'
     Luca spun us both back around and I entered the home, eyes scanning the walls, and people we passed, as he led me up the steps. I frankly remembered the first time I was there and he had been so turned on, he had almost thrown the rules of the blue moon out and taken me on the steps. 'And I would've let him in that moment.'
"Rae..." He warned me again, aware of where my thoughts were floating towards but it was too late, once again they broke loose in my mind and I greedily daydreamed about his rough hands, gently gliding down my sides until they went to my thighs. "I'm warning you, stop."
     I took a slow, sensual deep breath, and he cursed. 'Would he be gentle with my body? Or would he ravage me like a piece of meat, until I was raw and red from his antics?'
"You wouldn't want it gentle. Believe me."
"And how would you know that?"
"It's instinct. Once you're bare for me, you will want me to take you roughly. To bite that neck, to claim you senselessly. Over and over again."
"Oh?"
     I was breathless by his words. Ridiculously turned on just by the sheer mental image of him mating with me. 'Stay level headed. But if he dies tonight, he will never get the chance. Unless..' An idea began to form in my head as I got up the stairs as he stopped in front of a thick door. "Our room."
"Our?" He didn't comment on my surprise. Instead, he countered it by opening the door, and as soon as he did, his smell enveloped me and I was encased in something so predominantly his, I felt at home. 'Our home.'
"Yes."
     My eyes skated over the room. It differed from his room. It differed from his room in the other house. It was more — lived in. More personal. Along every surface was something that could be attributed to Luca, and when he moved us both inside, a calm feeling settled over me. 'Like I belong. Like I was meant to be here.' He stepped in front of me, guiding his hands along my hips, which made me gasp, and he captured that sound with his mouth upon mine.
     Only this time, unlike his usual feral need, he was gentle, and that word he constantly uttered stirred inside of my mind as a result. 'Mine. So mine.' He growled against my lips, yanking me into him as his chest pressed firmly against mine, and my front was pressed against the throbbing steel in his pants where I couldn't escape. 'I don't want to escape. I want him.' He bit my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth until I was a mewing pile of passion, and he managed to slip his tongue into my mouth to claim my taste. He savored me between his teeth and pulled me towards the bed. 'If begging can't get him to stay, maybe bargaining will?'
     Laughter filled my head and I knew his presence was there once again. He broke the kiss from me, pulling me on top of him on the bed and cupped my face. "I will bribe you to stay."
"My Rae. Anima mea. I cannot stay. I must fight for my pack."
"Let me for with you."
"No!" I frowned at the aggression in his tone, before his face softened and he was stroking his thumb along my cheek. "I will never put you in harms way. I won't allow it."
"Allow it?" He shook his head. "That's not up to you."
"Yes. It is. You are not going, and that's final. You have not yet had your transformation."
"Neither have you!"
"Yet I still hold much of the power of the wolf, and you do not. You are not safe, or protected and if I have to worry about you, I will not be able to focus on my task."
'Nothing will work with him.'
     He inhaled deeply, while giving me a casted kiss, before he gently pulled me back enough to have his eyes roam every contour of my face. "I'm sorry if that disappoints you."
"I will mate with you. Please don't do this. I fear for you." His eyes narrowed, his breathing deep as he peered into the depths of my eyes like he was looking for trickery. "You will mate with me?"
"Yes. That was the bribe. You can have me."
'Maybe he'll reconsider. Maybe that promise is enough to make him stay out of harm's way.'
     I waited anxiously for his submission, but it didn't come. "Anima mea... my everything. If you are to become mine you must come to terms with this lifestyle. Our way isn't to cower in the face of danger. My gentle Rae. Your soft ways are... Refreshing."
'Soft ways. It's called logic.' His chest rumbled with laughter, and I vibrated on top of him as he held me in his arms. "If I can't get you to stay, will you at least promise you'll be okay? Promise you'll be safe?"
"I promise I will practice caution."
     He sighed, and all of that intimidating tension left his face and in its place was content. As if he was just a normal man and I was a simple woman who was falling in love, and enjoying a quiet evening in each other's arms. "Thanks." I went to move off the top of him, but he tightened his grip on me. "Lay on me." I nodded and rested my weight on him, a soft moan leaving my lips when my body molded perfectly to his. He stroked my back gently. 'See, you're capable of gentleness.'
"Only with you." His words were uttered out loud, and the comforting certainty of them pulled me slowly to sleep. That and his breathing, and the way my heart was beating in synchronization; steady and connected.
     I awoke in a startled sweat, jolting upright before my eyes focused on the dark room. 'What the - Luca.' I felt that he wasn't near anymore. 'He left.' My face fell as I tried to take steadying breaths to calm my racing heart, discontented by the fact I was in the mansion alone. 'I should just wait here for him. Or I could explore. If this will be my home, there's nothing wrong with getting to know the place. I'll just look around... I don't think it'll hurt. He wouldn't leave me here if it wasn't safe.'
     I cautiously got up, and moved towards the hallway, listening for sounds of life once I stepped out into the hallway. 'How will I learn to live here? Without my mother? Because I know she won't come. No amount of convincing her will do it. She will not forgive Ethan, and I have not, but my pull to Luca is almost unbreakable. Unless I move... Far away from here again and never look back.'
     I expected his usual gruff tone in my head, dispelling my ideas of leaving him, and I was disappointed. I actually enjoyed the familiarity of him inside of my head. 'That's weird. I hope he's okay. Usually he can sense anything, and if he sensed that, he would say something.' I shook my head, deciding not to worry about it, before I moved towards the stairs, and climbed down them. 'I remember him showing me the living room.' I sharply inhaled when my stomach bubbled with emptiness, and I realized I was hungry. 'I'm starving. Maybe I should start with the kitchen. Hard to explore on an empty stomach.' I thought of when Luca wanted to feed me. 'In the other house... it's something so intimate. But he never got the chance to.'
     I searched around, but the intricate hallways made me lost, and it wasn't long until I was huffing with frustration, when I finally heard the sound of footsteps. Someone rounded the corner in the hallway and I came face to face with the blonde. 'Of course. Because that's just my luck. One of Luca's lovers. One of how many? Who knows. Sex is 'primal.' I resisted the urge to eye roll, before clearing my throat as her dark eyes scrutinized me. She placed a hand on her hip, her brows raising, her nostrils flared as if she was trying to get a sense of me by my scent. 'I wish she'd stop that. I feel violated...'
"I'm —"
"I know who you are." She snapped at me. I clenched my jaw and nodded as she continued to stare at me. 'Well clearly she doesn't like me... so I'm gonna excuse myself from having a shitty conversation with her.'
     I moved past her wordlessly, ignoring the eyes I felt on my back as I continued to venture for the kitchen. 'Maybe I'll just go home. It might be easier that way. My mom!' I patted myself for my phone, realizing it wasn't on me. 'The room.' I hurried back the way I came, careful to retrace my steps until I saw the stairs. I ascended them two at a time, moving towards my room when I threw open my door and searched for my phone, finally finding it on the bed. 'Oh got... it's almost six am. Please don't be up yet. Sometimes she gets up throughout the night when she's in pain.'
     I scrolled through my phone and found a bunch of text messages from her. "Rae? Where did you go? Are you with Luca? I thought I told you to stay away from him! Anyone associated with Ethan is someone I don't want around my daughter. His uncle killed your father!" I noticed her typing. "And if you're not careful, he'll do the same to you."
'What is she talking about? Why would he kill me?'
"Mom, I'm fine. What do you mean?"
"You are a bastard child of the man who stole me from him. That man's blood still runs through your veins. You are not safe near Ethan."
     Fear paralyzed me. My fingers hovered over the keyboard motionless as my heart began to hammer wildly in my chest, and I felt the air in my lungs restricted with each passing unbearable moment of anxiety. 'Ethan wants to kill me.. The night he strangled me wasn't some dementia episode. He actually wants me dead? Did Luca know? Was he just trying to draw me out? Make a game of things until he was fed up and then he'd let Ethan dispose of me?' Panic set me in motion. 'I need to get the hell out of here.'
     I shoved my phone in my pocket, tucking hair behind my ears before I made my way quickly into the hallway. I didn't seek out anyone, I just let my legs carry me quickly down the steps. 'This was all a mistake. I knew it was.' As I moved to the front door, I snapped my head sideways and made eye contact with Luca's old lover, and she arched a curious brow as I reached for the door. 'Is she going to stop me?' I pulled open the door and she didn't bat an eyelash.
     I was half thankful the sun was starting to come up so I was not totally blind, but a bit of darkness still settled below the tops of the trees, creating shadows everywhere. 'It's easy. It's straight the whole way. I can do it.' I practically jogged for the trees, ignoring the sounds of howling as I pushed through twigs and leaves on foot. 'Oh god. I hope Ethan isn't out here. Then again, the curse is back in full effect now that he's not near my mother, I know because she's been on the receiving end of it too.' I half expected Luca's strong voice to boom in the forest, my name on his tongue, but it didn't come. 'I can't dwell on his whereabouts. I just can't. I'm leaving. Maybe for good. Luca lied about Ethan in the beginning. Had me feeling crazy about a man who'd attacked me when he was just covering for his uncle. He downplayed his uncle's intentions when he brought my mother to his house...' I felt my trust fading. 'My mother is family. I have to go.' That's when I heard his voice in my head. 'Rae, where are you going?'
'How did he know?'
'Rae?'
'I have to leave. My mother needs me, I'm sorry Luca.'
'I'm coming soon. I will accompany you.'
     The sound of movement in the woods made a burst of fear drive me quickly forward until my lungs screamed, and my whole body ached. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest and the pain of betrayal resisted heavy in my chest. 'I think I see the road!' Just as I got closer to the clearing where the trees stopped and the road met nature, Luca's voice was back in my head. 'Rae! Stop! It's not safe!' Those were the last words I heard when something big knocked into me sideways as everything went black.