The Alpha's Match

Strangle the Heart

Lauren's POV

"You will not see or speak to him again!" Lewis ordered, his dark eyes blazed in fury and I flinched back in fear.

"You- you can't tell me what to do." I had meant to yell but my mouth was too dry. He grabbed hold of my arms pinning them securely to my sides.

"You're mine!" He snarled. My vision blurred as tears spilt down from my eyelashes.

"You're hurting me!" I choked out. As if I had burnt him, he released me instantly. His eyes widened, returning to bright blue and he took a small step back away from me. I could still feel where his fingers had pressed into my arms but that wasn't why I was crying.

"Lauren." He looked horrified and ran his fingers distractedly through his dark dishevelled hair. "I'm so sorry." I turned and ran, I heard him call after me but Immy held him back, telling him to give me some space. I was grateful for that. I ran until the tears were streaming so fast that I knocked into something solid. Then I stopped and slid down the wall, wishing that the floor would just swallow me up.

Everything had been so perfect and now somehow I had ruined it all. Lewis was angry but of course I knew that he hadn't meant to hurt me. I was his soul mate, a supernatural bond meant that he had to want me, to put up with me and never hurt me. Whilst I, the puny human, wasn't the victim of a bond that stole me free will. I had fallen in love with him on my own. I stopped crying, surprised by my own trail of thought. I loved him. When had that happened?

George's POV

Shayne stared off into the distance. I couldn't stop fidgeting, waiting impatiently for him to just say something, anything. If he'd just blink, damn it!

"Shayne?" I prompted nervously. He shook himself out of his trance. "Should I warn the alpha?"

"No," Shayne replied quickly. "He'll kill them. He won't show mercy to traitors."

"But, isn't that..." I began awkwardly, I wanted to argue wasn't that still the right course of action. Traitors were executed. It preserved the stability and safety of the pack. But Shayne's hard glare shut me up.

"If what you say is true then they're rising up in support of me. If they die, they die for me. I can't let that happen." I nodded slowly in understanding, worried about what direction his thoughts were taking him in.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stop the rebellion." His jaw was set in a rigid line, his nostrils flared and his eyes blazing with determination.

"How?"

"I'll reason with them, show them that fighting won't solve anything." I thought back to the blood thirsty war cry that had shaken the rafters of the old pack house.

"I don't think-" I began but Shayne interrupted, not hearing my softly worded disagreement.

"Stay by the Alpha's side. You know the faces of the wolves that have turned against him. If one of them gets close you can protect him."

"But-" I'm not a warrior! I spend my free time at the library. My childhood memories of the pack school all centre around being slammed into lockers and being thrown head first into rubbish bins. Shayne placed a strong hand on my shoulder.

"You can do it George. You're the cleverest guy I know. Use that now to keep everyone safe."

"I'm not hero material." I protested weakly. Beside Shayne I look like a stick insect, all pasty skin and bone. In width he is about three of me across and he towers high above me leaving me a clear view of his rock solid chest. Shayne smiled kindly.