Robbing the Alpha

Ch. 11: The Tease

BROOKE

I thought I knew how to spot a lie, and all along I'd been living one. They'd massacred our alpha bloodline, and Mother not only knew, she'd participated. She must have. Our family was too close to the top not to be involved in some way. Now that I knew, I could see it clearly. Society was full of backstabbers because backstabbers had built society.

They'd severed the main artery of our pack, and we had been bleeding out ever since. Huck was a faint pulse in a barely beating heart. I studied him with new eyes: the way he moved, the way he spoke, the things he knew about—like the hidden passageways.

"That's how you got in," I breathed as he revealed a secret door hidden in the back of a fireplace. It was darker than dark, and the air was so stale I could taste it. A cold draft blew over us, making the cobwebs dance. "Does Titan know this is here?"

"No." Huck placed his hand on the small of my back and nudged me forward. "We need to move."

I swallowed, took a breath, and stepped in, then Huck closed the door, submerging us in a sea of black.

"Can you see?" I whispered.

A tiny flashlight flickered to life, and Huck motioned me on with his chin. Reluctantly, I turned and eased forward, hyper-aware of his presence behind me. Now was not the time for sinful thoughts, but I'd never been closer to acting on them. It wasn't just a choice between duty or happiness anymore. There was a universe where it was possible to have both.

Aster's words echoed in my mind. "I serve the moon. If you wish to survive, you'll do the same."

I knew what the moon wanted. It was the same thing Mother had demanded of me since the moment I was born. Climb. Carry the weight of your bloodline. Well, she'd been right about one thing; my child would be an alpha, and I needed to secure his place on the mountain top—starting with his father.

We turned several corners and descended a flight of wooden stairs, ending up in the cellar. Moonlight leaked through a set of hinged doors, and Huck took my hand, keeping me close as he hurried over and crouched on the steps beneath them.

"Titan added extra patrols," I whispered.

"That might matter if they didn't bury their wolves." He stared at the wooden slats as if he could see through them, his body poised like a cat about to pounce. "Are you ready?"

I nodded.

"Keep up, Princess."

He pushed the doors open, propelling us into the night, and we moved with the shadows, using all of our senses to avoid the many sentinels. My heart raced faster than our feet and pounded louder than our steps. Every move Huck made was fluid, showing me firsthand what it was like to be a ghost. It was so effortless for him. So much so, he seemed more concerned with torturing me than getting caught. Not so innocent touches and tight hiding places left me feeling overheated.

A sentinel's scent drifted through the air, and Huck tugged me into a dark corner, his arm circling my waist, securing my back to his front. No space. Just pressure.

I bit down on my bottom lip as footsteps slowly drew nearer, seeming to head straight toward us. How could I be this close to ruin? How could I be this reckless? If we were caught now, it wouldn't matter who he was. It was too soon, but the pull to mate was more powerful than I'd ever imagined. I was a breath away from death, yet my entire focus was on the man behind me, and the way our bodies fit together so perfectly.

"Tell the truth." Huck nuzzled the side of my head and took a slow, deep inhale of my scent. "You wore this for me, didn't you?"

He wanted to call me out now? Was he out of his mind? "Shh."