The Night I Met The Alpha

18

Word Count: 1869

~Dove

I have absolutely no idea what is going on.

I barely had time to force down my lunch before Varian swept into my room, calling for me to join him.

For the past day I've been in the dark to the happenings here. For the first time since I was kidnapped I've been welcomed to leave the stuffy cell, only to meet my father flanked by guards in the corridor.

After a brief and strained reunion with him under Varian's disapproving eye, I'm quickly alerted to the fact that I'm in the Alpha's personal cells at the bowels of his manor.

The same manor I visited during the most illustrious party of the year...

My wary legs lead me up a spiralling set of stairs and back to the ground floor of the manor. Varian stalks ahead wordlessly, not sharing his intentions as we stroll through his home.

Every glance over my shoulder reminds me of the guards trailing us. I grab for fathers hand, clutching it tightly as I try not to study his own injuries too closely.

Our footsteps on polished stone floor is the only sound as we make our way into a pretty sitting room.

I pause to take a moment to be grateful to see the sun. It streams lushly through the tall windows, the stained glass causing panels of multicoloured light to dapple the floor and furniture.

Varian motions us to sit, so we do so stiffly on wing-backed chairs that flank each other, while he sits on a couch opposite us. He stretches his arms out, that easy confidence of his making my stomach twist.

In the first to speak. "Why are we here?"

Varian angles his head to the side, his lips curving upward. My palms dampen at the thought of what he's plotting.

"To speak, of course." He clasps his hands together. "To conclude your stay here, hopefully."

I glance at my father. There's a cut on his cheekbone like skin split on an overripe fruit, and dark bruises cut under his eyes. It casts a deep discomfort in my stomach from the effort to not reach out to him.

Clearly the guards had as much fun with him as they did my ribcage.

"My daughter doesn't need to be present for negotiations." Father motions at me tensely.

"Oh, quite the contrary. In fact, she's the focal point of todays discussion," Varian smiles, glancing up at a maid who enters the room with a tray laden with water glasses. He takes one, but father and I refrain.

As tempting as frosted glasses and ice water is right now, I don't feel comfortable accepting anything in this negotiation.

"If you hurt her-"

"No harm will come to Dove," Varian mutters, draining his glass before setting it down. "Your choices today will have consequences, of course, and she will be faced with them."

His words weigh heavy against my skin. I've unwittingly stumbled into the middle of this, and now I'm terrified to know what Varian has conjured.

Clearly our moment together bears little meaning now. He see's me as a spy, a traitor. I'll stand no chance in convincing him otherwise now.

"Using my daughter as an interrogation tool is low, even for you," father growls.

He leans forward, the amusement in his eyes fading to a deep, solemn anger. "When it comes to this, you have no idea what I'm capable of."

I shiver involuntarily. Varian isn't the empty headed indulger Matthias see's him as. He's callous and calculated, erecting a façade so intricate no one takes him seriously until it's too late.

Now we lay at his mercy.

"Tell us your intentions then." Father's voice betrays his fear. Each word quivers and trembles as he faces down a man who no longer has much to lose.

Varian lets us linger in our fear as he takes turn in appraising us with cold eyes. I stay rigidly still, afraid the slightest movement will incur his wrath.

"I have a proposition for you," he muses calmly.

Father pauses. "What is it?"

"I'm willing to make a fair trade with you." He looks between us, his eyes dark. "If you accept my offer, then both your life and your daughters will be preserved."

My heartbeat pulses in my throat, my palms slick. Preservation of life doesn't rule out torture, servitude? The thought is haunting.

"What is your offer?"

He leans back, his body language loose and unbothered. "It's more so an ultimatum, actually."

"Tell us," I prompt shakily. He's torturing us, letting us linger in our fear.

He pins my father with a icy stare, his ultimatum directed at hi.

"If you tell me information on where my brother is, you'll both be free." His gaze shifts to me. "Otherwise I'm going to take Dove upstairs and I'm going to fuck her."

I stiffen, a cold dousing of horror gliding down my body. "What?"

"You won't do that," father growls, although the colour has drained from his face. He can read Varian's expression the same way I am...

This isn't a joke. He's deadly serious.

"I'm the Alpha of Sin, according to your own Alpha." He shrugs casually, the hint of a smile toying at his mouth. "It would not be an onerous task for me to undertake. Quite the opposite, in fact."

He looks back at me, his eyes darkening.

"Dove doesn't want that. She doesn't deserve to be used by you for your own gain," my father growls viciously, his knuckles paling as he grips the arms of his chair.

"It shouldn't be such an impossible decision. I would suggest taking the former, if that helps," Varia muses, clearly enjoying seeing my father scramble.

My heart is beating so loud I'm surprised I can hear the conversation happening around me.

Varian is far more evil than I took him for...

"Just tell him father. He's really going to do it," I hiss, trying to get him to look at me but his gaze seems trained on the floor.

"He wouldn't. Even he isn't so soulless as to participate in rape."

"Rape?" Varian laughs, the sound cruel and brutal. "Oh hardly. I wouldn't touch her until she begged for me. I wouldn't have to be waiting long, either."

My eyes flare wide. "Varian-"

"Are you willing to bet your daughter wouldn't give in to my seduction?" He angles his head, tapping his finger impatiently against arm of the chair. "Are you willing to take such a risk. I do have a reputation, after all."

Father has no idea about my tryst with Varian, but it's starting to become obvious the more he alludes to us having crossed paths before.

"I...you cannot do that," I insist desperately.

Father just needs to tell him anything he knows about Matthias and get us out of here. This torment can't possibly be worth his silence.

"Would Matthias accept you and your daughter back into his circle if he knew I had my way with her?" Varian looks between, well aware of the answer. "Would he bear the shame of his closest advisor's daughter having been mine, even were it just once?"

There are many reasons that make it unlikely we would ever been in Matthias' favour again. Chief among them, my personal connection to him.

"He..." Father breaks off, unsure of how to respond.

"He concerns himself so much with purity and other tiresome ideas. I can't imagine this would win you any favours," Varian says.

"Neither would betraying my loyalty," father grits out.

"I suppose it then comes down to who matters more." Varian smiles at me, but it's strained, uncertain.

He seems surprised my father would be hesitating this much. He must have figured this would be enough to break the relevant information from him.

But he can't possibly be as surprised as I am.

"Fuck you," father snaps, looking keen to launch from his seat in protest, but the lingering guards and Varian's sharp stare keep him in place.

Varian turns his gaze to me. "All your father has to do is give me any information he knows on where my brother is, and this will all be over."

"He doesn't know anything!" He can't possibly know what Varian thinks he does...otherwise he would have given up that information to get me out of this.

"You truly believe that? What are you willing to bet on that?" Varian asks softly, raising a brow.

My mouth presses closed, a nauseating ache deepening in my stomach. I can't be certain my father doesn't know anything — I'm merely hoping he doesn't.

But he is Matthias' war advisor, and he has proven to me many times before that he also acts as his confidant.

"Didn't think so," Varian says after a tense length of silence. "What will it be?"

Once again father won't meet my pleading gaze. Guilt presses into every line of his face, which is stuck in a semi permeant grimace.

"I don't have for information you are looking for. Your brother was likely killed right after he was taken," father grinds out, although his certainty betrays him.

A flash of annoyances cleaves through Varian's perfect calm, but it's gone in a moment.

He stands gracefully, holding his hand out to me.

"Come now Dove. Whether this takes minutes, hours or days, I will return you to your Alpha thoroughly used by me." He smirks. "For your pleasure, of course."

I shake my head, pressing my back into the chair. He can't be serious...this can't be happening. I'm not going to let Varian ravage me, even in spite of our attraction. I know him now for the monster that he is, and I have no further interest in him.

"What kind of sick game is this? You truly think Matthias cares? I'm nobody to him!" I insist, hoping he can't see through my lies.

Varian is unwittingly going to do more damage than he could ever realise.

"We'll see then, won't we?"

"Father, tell him, please," I beg. "Nothing can be more important than my dignity. Matthias will...you don't understand."

He squeezes his eyes shut before burying his face in his hands. "I'm sorry."

"Don't, please...he can't be more important than me. He betrayed you!" I hardly care that I'm yelling, trying so desperately to capture his sympathy when he clearly has no interest in imparting it.

Finally he looks at me, his eyes red and his face stricken. "He's our Alpha."

"I'm your daughter," I remind him coolly.

"Take her upstairs to my wing and him back to the prisons. I've seen enough," Varian mutters to his guards.

He seems to have sobered from his amusement, looking thoroughly disturbed by what he's witnessed. I watch him stalk from the room, shaking out his hands as if he's gotten something on them.

I don't wait for the guards to grab me, making my own way past my father and out the door to follow Varian to his room.

🩶••🩶

As always, you can read this book 16 chapters ahead on Inkitt and 10 chapters ahead on Radish!

Your support means a lot to me!

~Midika 🐈‍⬛💜