The Alpha

Chapter 13

          I felt Luca's anger before he had even spoken. It was like a blast of air that twisted my insides and hardened my muscle as my vision turned red. 'Oh no. No no no. This can't be happening... We're moving?'
"NO! You are not!" My mother's eyes shifted to him, and disgust curled her lip upward before she shoved another box in the back of the van. "Rae, this town is not good for you. I should've never brought you here and for that I'm sorry."
"But m-mom —"
"No buts! We're leaving!"
     I stepped forward, reaching out for her shoulder when Luca yanked me back, his hand grasping mine before he inserted himself between my mother and I. I knew the tensions were rising, and with fear, it spilled over me. I would have tried and addressed Luca, but when he got protective, it made him look drop dead gorgeous. I admired how attractive he appeared in his leather jacket. "Luca please —"
"Anima mea, no. I will not let her take you away from me." My mother whipped around, eyes bloodshot and bulging as she stepped toward him. "You have no claim on her! I am her mother!"
"And I am her Alpha! Without me she will die!"
"It's still a better date than being a filthy wolf!"
     Luca growled, his chest heaving up and down. I was stunned by my mother's outburst, never having seen her foam from the mouth like that throughout my entire life. Veins bulged from her head and throat, an aggression gleaming in her eye that frightened me and made my heart pick up pace in my chest. 'I hate having to choose! Why can't she just accept me! Why can't they both stop fighting."
"Wolf blood runs through her veins — it runs through your veins! You can't deny it! And she will not deny me." Her eyes flickered towards me and I nodded slightly. "I'm mating with him.. I'm sorry mom."
     It was as if her whole world came crashing down. She screamed. It was a frustrated, strangled sound that morphed into one of agonizing pain. "Mom!"
'It's too dangerous... Something could set Luca off.' Her skin became beaded with sweat and I was tugging on my hair from my skull as I screamed. 'What's happening? What the hell is happening!'
"She's changing." His voice was startled. He held me back, unwilling to let me near danger as my mother dropped to the floor. Her limbs shook and jerked until they were distorted. I couldn't move. I was frozen to my spot as I watched the woman I had grown up with contorting into an animal. 'But I thought she couldn't. She hasn't mated.'
"I don't know what the hell is going on. This..." He let out a deep breath. "Has never happened before. Ever."
     I sniffled, tears searing my eyes before they began to roll down my cheeks. It felt like hours that my mother convulsed in pain, but really it was only a minute. One last hiss of pain that morphed into a howl, until a wolf was staring at me in her place. "What... the... hell... What's going on? She shouldn't be changing.."
'The change looks excruciating.'
     Luca swallowed as my mother whimpered and slowly moved towards me. He made sure I wasn't able to have contact with her, slowly backing us both up until we were near his keep. "I don't know what the fuck is going on... but you need to stay behind me, Rae. The first transformation is brutal. Very instinctual. She's not in her right mind."
"I trust you."
"I need to bring her back to the pack." She howled, which made the hairs along my body stand on end. 'I don't know how he'll do that. She won't go willingly.'
"If she won't go willingly, I will call upon members of our pack."
     Luca eyed her, taking a step forward with his fists balled down at his sides. "Ego Alpha. You will bow to me and no one else. Lycan blood runs through your veins." I watched as he stared down my mother like they were both secretly communicating and I shifted helplessly beside him. After a few seconds, howls pierced the night sky and I realized he had called upon others from the pack. 'Ugh, not Taila. I don't trust her... And the thought of her around Luca —'bI shook my head, aware that he could feel my jealousy and at the moment; since my mother had made an odd transition into a wolf that not even the Alpha understood, going on and on about another woman wasn't really appropriate. "We will discuss that later."
     He commented on my thoughts and I crossed my arms over my chest, unwilling to confirm the doubt in my heart. "Right now, I must get her back to the pack. I must check on Ethan." He whipped around and nodded to the jeep. "We will drive. Get in." I peered at the jeep and back at the house with millions of boxes. 'Maybe it's best if I just stay back —'
"Get in the car. I won't let you out of my sight. Not after what just happened... you are MINE." He growled the world mine to solidify his seriousness, and although I didn't want to admit it, his possession made my core wet. "Making you wet huh?"
'Shit. I forgot hr can read my dam thoughts... So instructive.'
"Get used to it."
     I huffed and climbed into the car, eyes moving to my mother who was panting in her spot as the sound of howls neared. Luca got in the jeep beside me and pulled out quickly. "Wait! I thought you said they were coming to get her?"
"They are. We need to get back there."
"How will they get her to go?" He glanced sideways at me. "It's a wolf thing."
'Everything is a wolf thing.'
"Will someone be able to figure out why she turned?" He shrugged, whipping the car sideways which caused me to cry out before he glared at me. "Seat belt. Now."
'So bossy...'
"I don't joke around when it comes to your safety."
"Clearly."
'I'm glad...' I spared a glance at him, watching as the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a grin at the last thought in my mind.
     The drive back to his house was excruciatingly long. My heart frantically pounding in my chest as I thought about my mother and her new form." 'Shes become everything she despised. She's become the monster she's run from my entire life... the one who took her love from her. Little does she know, my father was using her. He was using her for the title of Alpha. My father didn't care that it would destroy her, and filled her head with nonsense about remaining human.'
     When we arrived back at Luca's house, I hopped out of the jeep and he cursed. "Rae, I need to make sure they have her here safely. I need to check on Ethan.. if my suspicions are correct, he's changed too." That thought brought about a fear that was crippling. I reached for the jeep, balancing myself with my hand. Regardless of Ethan's past motives, he tried to strangle me. The flashbacks from that robbed me of breath and sense as I clawed at my own throat. "Rae!" Luca yelled for me, but I couldn't see him. His voice sounded muffled like it was a million miles above the surface, and I was drowning in painful memories of an assault that I still didn't understand. 'If he's a wolf, then I'm in danger. What if Luca can't stop him? What if he just finishes the job that Jaxon couldn't?'
     I was jerked back into reality when Luca gently shook me, both his hands on my arms, rubbing them reassuringly. "He will not hurt you. I will not let him."
"But what if he hurts you? You can't change yet... not until the blue moon." I blushed after realizing it was coming quickly. 'What if it's ruined because of everything going on? What if we don't get to mate? The curse has already taken a small toll on me. The pain I've felt when I've been away from him —' I felt his hands cup my cheeks. "Anima mea, stop worrying. Nothing and I mean nothing will stop me from claiming you." He growled and the sound made my nipples harden. "It is my destiny."
     He cupped my chin, rubbing his thumb along my bottom lip, before he leaned forward and captured my mouth with his. The kids was needy and possessive. It made me weak in the knees, but I was thankful the jeep was beside me. "I will take you roughly tomorrow. And you will turn, and we will be one. Okay?" I nodded slowly, breathless and wordless. 'He's always so intense... So sure of his future. It's comforting and alarming. I'm a virgin... and this muscular, brutal man is claiming he will take me. And I'll transition... which scares me to my core.'
"Don't let it. Now let's go. I want you in the mansion. Where it's safe."
'Hm... safe... is he sure about that? I question the motives of some of the pack members. I mean, can he blame me? Jaxon kidnapped me and was going to kill us both!'
"I will carry you there if I have to, so you feel safe."
"Carry me please. I want to stay with you."
     He lifted me up quickly and effortlessly, like I weighed nothing. I clung to him with my arm, resting my head on his chest where I heard that steady heartbeat I had come to adore. 'If my mother has changed, I wonder if Ethan has... God, I hope not.' Luca tensed as he carried me, but he didn't comment on my thoughts. He appeared ingrained in something else, but I didn't know what. I didn't have the senses of a wolf, so I was unaware of most that was around me, whereas he could probably hear the closest animal within 100 yards. 'And when I turn that's what it will be like for me. Oh god... I wish my mother had told me so I would've been able to prepare. I've spent my whole life thinking werewolves were just a figment of imagination, and now I learn that I am a part of that world.'
"You were created for me, Anima mea. Pure perfection. Innocence. You'll stand by my side and you will rule with me."
"I-I don't know how to rule. I've never been in charge of anyone..."
'Anyone but myself.'
"That will change. You will be in charge of the children you will bear for me."
     I inhaled a sharp breath and blinked rapidly. 'I'd help just say — children?'
"What?"
"You will bear my child, Rae. And he will become Alpha when the time is right."
"I-I-" The words evaporated on my tongue. I felt my face warming and sweat beading my skin at his words. I have only known him for a little while and now he was talking about impregnating me. 'I never thought about if I wanted children.'
"What if I don't want kids?" He tightened his grip on me and despite the darkness around us, with the small streaks of moonlight, I noticed him shaking his head. "You will bear my children."
"Luca."
     I said his name more firmly, annoyed that he was not listening to me, only stating what he wanted and believed would be true. "You're not listening to me."
"It is prophesied. You will be the mother of my children. Come tomorrow night, when I take you in front of the pack, I will plant my seed in you, and nine months from now, you will have my child. It is what will be."
"What about how I feel? Or does that not matter? I'm just supposed to follow some weird voodoo? That's what decides if I want to be a mother?"
"Rae —"
"No! That seems unfair."
'Especially being raised as I was... having to take care of my mother. I never wanted to have children who could potentially be put in that situation, so I'd always thought it'd be a no. Now I'm just supposed to change my whole outlook on it?'
"Rae listen..." He was interrupted.
     The sound of growling pierced the night sky, before I heard the vicious sound of growling and jaws snapping. It was followed by whimpering. Luca cursed and I gasped. "Luca, what's going on?"
"Nothing. I need to get you back to the mansion." He picked up his pace, jogging with me in his arms. I was beyond surprised at how easy it was for him to run while carrying me. 'It must come with being Alpha.'
    The faster he moved through the trees, the quicker the mansion came into the clearing. When we got there, I heard Taila yelling Luca's name, and the sound made me grit my teeth. "Luca! Quick! It's Ethan."
'And of course she's naked...' She rushed towards us as we neared the front door, my eyes skating down her naked flesh and I swore she grinned at me like she knew her nudity was bothering me. 'Who knew I'd be dealing with high school jealousy and drama as an adult... Fighting over a man... but I can't control who my destiny is.'
"I need to get Rae inside."
"Of course. Whatever to keep her safe."
     That sounded sarcastic, but Luca didn't seem to notice. I frowned at her, narrowing my eyes. I could tell she didn't like me from the moment I saw her the day I found out werewolves existed, perched naked in the clearing. 'She wants my position. She wants to be the Alpha's mate.'
"But she will not." I formed my lips, glancing at Taila who seemed to have heard Luca. I grinned and raised my brows. 'This wolf gene is turning me into a jealous petty woman.' Luca snickered, as we got inside the mansion, he finally set me down. I frowned at the loss of his touch and regardless of our disagreement on bearing his children, I still craved his intimacy like I did oxygen. 'I crave closeness.'
     A chorus of howls echoed in the woods, and my eyes bulged. "Stay here. I will be back."
"Wait." I grabbed his hand, watching as Taila stood in the doorway, watching both of us. I made sure to look right at her as I moved my body into his, before I lifted on my toes and pressed my mouth against his; a soft groan pulling from my mouth at the feel of his tongue sweeping my bottom lip. 'Mine.'
'Yours.' His voice was in my head. 'Be safe please. Take care of my mother.'
'Yes, Anima mea.' When I finally pulled away, Luca growled and wrapped his arms around my waist before claiming my lips once more, and I was powerless to his lips. They felt so warm and just like home. 'It's hard to deny destiny when it feels this familiar; This comforting.'
     I let him go, worry furrowing my brows. 'What if that whining wolf is my mom? What if she's not okay?' When he finally pulled away, Taila was fuming. I have never fought over a man, but the innate possession and aggression that came over me when he was in her presence was too strong. When he twisted, a sickening growl broke through the trees. "It's Ethan! He's dead."