The Alpha's Prize

29

Word Count: 2225

~Hunter

Kaan and I step inside the restaurant, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room.

Including Vinn.

He sits at a table at the other end of the room, sipping from his drink slowly. He shifts uncomfortably as we approach, clearly not expecting Kaan to be joining in on this meeting.

Unfortunately for him, there was nothing I could say to Kaan to convince him not to come with me. It was either this, or Kaan slaughters him on the spot and starts a war between Pack's.

"This wasn't part of our agreement," Vinn mutters distastefully as we walk up to him.

I sit, watching Kaan pull up another chair from a different table so he can join. My mate doesn't look scared at all to be facing off with another powerful Alpha, while I'm quietly trembling from anticipation.

This meeting needs to go well. Everything is riding on this.

"If you expected me to play fair, you're a fool," I tell him, holding the gaze of the man I was once promised to.

He used to hide his anger so well. I'm not sure my father would have cared if he knew how abusive Vinn was going to be, but regardless, while courting me, he acted like the perfect gentleman.

That beautiful façade faded unbelievably quick. I refuse to return to living like I once did.

"So you're the Alpha." Vinn looks over Kaan like he sees something lacking.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Vinn knows exactly who Kaan is, and they would have met. Vinn assumes that because he is much older, he is a better Alpha.

If people weren't starving in his Pack, if uprisings weren't happening everyday, then maybe he would be believed.

"And you're just a man wanting to marry my wife for your own power." Kaan leans back in his seat, unintimidated.

His disgust is palpable. I hope it remains and is not replaced with anger.

"I'm an Alpha in my own right," Vinn reminds him, taking a sip of his drink. I watch the movement, devising a plan quietly in my head. "Livia has been promised to me."

In my pocket lies a crushed stem from a plant I went searching for this morning. It's small, but it's enough to kill someone. In my other pocket I have an antidote. My plan is to slip the plant into Vinn's drink when he is distracted.

"I'm afraid, by law, Hunter is obligated to remain here, in the territory run by her and me, her husband," Kaan states.

Vinn tilts his head from side to side. "See, that's not going to work."

"I don't want to marry you. Marry my sister instead, she's the one who wants the title," I insist. The two would be evenly matched. Although I don't want my sister to be abused by him, I get the feeling that they would be at each other's throats equally.

Vinn's nose scrunches up in visible repulsion.

"Your sister is insufferable. You, however, are at least tolerable."

I almost laugh. He only thinks that because I was so scared of him and my father that I didn't want to step out of line.

I won't be making that mistake again.

"I would make your life hell," I promise.

"But your body will give me enough entertainment to make your attitude worth it." Vinn runs his eyes over me, grinning at the thought.

My stomach turns. What a disturbing thought.

I glance toward Kaan to see he's stilled, staring at Vinn, sifting through ways he's going to kill him. I give him a hard look, warning him not to cause a scene.

Thankfully he remains in his seat, forcing calm over himself.

"I would mind what you say, if I were you," my mate growls lowly.

Vinn's eyes narrow. "Do you think you intimidate me?"

"You're in my territory. I don't give a fuck what you think of me."

While their attention is on each other, I pull the stem from my pocket into my fist, inching my hands across the table. It should dissolve in his drink with no trace, as long as he doesn't notice me drop it in.

"There's plenty of rumours about you, even where I'm from. Seems you're infamous," Vinn retorts, trying to bait Kaan to make the first move against him.

"Is that right?" My mate's eyes only narrow.

I raise my hand slightly, dropping the crushed stem into the drink. I watch it hit the surface of the liquid before dissolving immediately into the dark liquid, leaving no trace.

Let's just hope he drinks it and doesn't notice any shift in taste.

"People don't think you're fit to be Alpha. They think you're planning on dismantling the throne and handing the power to the people." A small smile plays on Vinn's lips, like he sees Kaan's dislike for the current system as a weakness.

At this point, I don't think Kaan has a weakness.

"People know little of me," he responds tightly.

"So you think you're doing well as Alpha?"

"With someone as strong as Hunter by my side, I'm certain it won't be too onerous of a task." Kaan looks over me, cementing his position by my side, as my husband. I haven't just married him, I've joined him as an equal in this Pack.

Vinn scoffs, like the thought disgusts him. Were I to have married him instead, he would have kept me out of everything regarding the running of his Pack.

To him, I'm the furthest thing from an equal.

"I'm afraid you're not going to get that chance. If Hunter doesn't leave with me today, everyone will learn about how she betrayed her territory, her family, and your public support will weaken to nothing," he says, poison dripping from every word.

He takes a long drink from his glass, like all this hatred he's spewing is dehydrating him. I watch with keen eyes, trying to keep my smile hidden.

Kaan grabs my hand, holding it atop the table as I talk. "People love a love story. An escape from an abusive partner. People will see why I did it."

Whether Kaan and I actually love each other is irrelevant, but what is important is that we are mates, and if I have to share that to save myself, I will.

Just not to Vinn. Not right now. Who knows how he would react.

"Will they? Because I can spin an equally tragic tale." He doesn't look impressed by show of affection. Probably because he doesn't see that as an important part of a union.

"I can't go back with you. I won't," I growl.

There are many things I would rather do first than be taken back to him.

"I don't care. You're going to find a way to get out of this ridiculous marriage you've put together, and you're going to be a good girl and come home with me," he snaps, not caring about the gazes drifting curiously over to our table.

Vinn's face is reddening. I'm not sure if it's from the poison or if it's from his anger. A thin layer of sweat is starting to gather above his brows also and he's starting to itch around his collar.

"I'm going to give you one last chance to leave here." Kaan's voice darkens with the threat. "The law will not favour you, but you should fear it less than you should fear me, or Hunter. Both of us are more than willing to kill you."

I nod in agreement. If poison isn't enough for him to get the message, perhaps the knife tucked into my belt is.

"It's too bad that many people know I'm here, and are awaiting my return." Vinn coughs a little, grimacing before trying to pull back the façade of control.

"I'm willing to take that chance," Kaan responds, tilting his head as he notices the shift in Vinn.

He starts coughing a little rougher, the wet, raspy sound coming from his mouth telling me the poison is having the exact effect on him that I need it to.

"Not feeling well?" I ask sardonically.

He pulls his collar off his throat irritably, wiping dark strands off his damp forehead. "This place is suffocating."

"Actually it's the poison I slipped into your drink."

He pauses. "Poison?"

"Hunter…" Kaan looks at me, apprehension spreading across his face. I didn't tell him about the plan because I figured he would stop me.

Unfortunately we needed a contingency plan, and I'm more than happy to take care of that for the both of us.

"This particular poison comes from a plant that grows native to this territory. I have personal experience with it, and now, so do you."

Digging into my pocket, I pull out a scattering of the dried stem, letting the fragments flutter down onto the placemat.

I only know so much about this plan because when I first trekked through here, it nearly killed me when I came across it. Luckily for me it has a natural antidote, which may be lucky for Vinn as well.

"Bitch…you're going to kill me?" His bravado doesn't impress me, his confidence slipping as he realises how serious the poison actually is.

"I have the antidote. And I'm willing to give it to you, on one condition." From my other pocket I pull out a small packet filled with a purple powdery substance made from flower petals. It will cure him within minutes, if he gets it fast enough.

He looks ready to lurch across the table to snatch it out of my hand, but Kaan gives him a warning look. He will intervene if he has to.

"Livia. You are making a mistake."

"That is not my name anymore. And you can tell my family that." My mother will probably faint at the news.

"I can't if you kill me." He hisses.

He's giving me the same look he did when he would intimidate me back home. He would stare me down and fill my head with cold words until I eventually caved and gave him what he wanted.

Not this time.

"I'll give you this antidote if you leave here and never return. You can marry my sister, but you will allow me and Kaan to remain married here with no intervention," I say, laying out my conditions as clearly as I can.

His face is a brilliant shade of red at this point. "No…I won't do it."

"You can die here. I really don't care." I shrug casually. Kaan remains tense beside me, not willing to intervene until I've said what I want to, but ready to jump between Vinn and I if things turn sour.

"You belong to me," Vinn chokes out. His throat sounds close to closing up.

"Nothing belongs to you. And currently, neither does this antidote." I flip it around my fingers, letting him get along, hard look at it, knowing complying is his only chance at survival.

For once he's under my thumb. For once he has to appease me.

He grimaces, the pain overcoming him. "Fine, I'll leave."

"You're going to fall unconscious shortly, but you have a few hours to live." I stand abruptly, so I can look down at him with the sinister look he once would give me. "One of Kaan drivers will take you home, and once you're far enough away, they will administer the antidote."

Vinn blinks rapidly, wiping the sweat dripping down his temple. Realisation that he has no other choice to comply has settled over him.

I doubt this will be enough to deter him, but it's a good place to start. He now knows I'm not helpless, I'm not afraid of him any longer. He will think long and hard before bothering to chase me down, and may even wonder if it is worth it any more.

"You're the monster I always knew you were, Livia." He tries to stand but he slips back down into his chair, his energy waning.

I just shake my head. "This will be the last time I see you. Goodbye Vinn."

Kaan follows me out of the establishment, his hand pressed against my back. It's a good thing too, because my legs are shaking terribly, ready to collapse under me from all the stress.

"You did well," he murmurs in my ear as we make it to our transport.

"I can't believe I did that."

My mate takes the antidote and hands it to another driver, mumbling instructions before guiding me into the transport.

"He will live, even if he doesn't deserve to," he mutters.

"I think he is really gone out of my life. For now at least." I sit down, letting myself breathe properly for the first time in months. I've finally released this secret, and it feels unbelievably good not to be carrying anymore around with me.

Kaan's eyes are dark as he traces the lines of my face. "He better be, because mark my words, if I ever see him again, he's dead."

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