Alpha - Forever #1 (Complete)

Chapter 25 - Part 2

Cade

From the time Scarlett came downstairs, she'd been acting strangely. At first I'd put it down to the stress of discovering Kyle was her brother and finding out about Victor, the man who had murdered her parents.

I left the lounge to find out what Jake had to say. Earlier, some rogues had been spotted in our territory and I'd told Jake to track them without being detected. I needed to confirm my suspicions that Victor was behind the rogue attacks.

He'd just told me that the rogues had been tracked to the edge of Victor's territory. He'd even seen the rogues talking to some members of Victor's pack.

"There is something up with Scarlett," said Gary as he joined Jake and me. I turned to face him, giving him my full attention. Anything that had to do with her was always important, more important than anything else.

"What were you and Blake talking about?" asked Gary before I could say anything.

I kept silent. I wasn't sure I could trust him with the information and I didn't want to take the chance that he would share it with Scarlett.

"Fine, don't tell me. But know that she overheard you and she's been acting strange ever since," he revealed with worry.

Fuck!

Why the hell had she been eavesdropping? I ran an agitated hand through my hair as I tried to remember everything that had been said between Blake and me.

I remembered Blake had mentioned that we suspected Victor was behind the rogue attacks. We'd also talked about the fact that Victor was more powerful than we were. If she'd overheard our conversation she'd know that even if we combined our pack with Blake's and Kyle's, we still wouldn't have enough werewolves to defend ourselves if Victor attacked.

I rubbed my forehead. If she'd heard this, she was going to do something stupid, really stupid. Jake and Gary watched me as I wrestled with the few options I had to keep Scar safe. The problem was she wasn't going to be happy with any of the options I was considering.

I let out a sigh and turned to Jake.

"Tell Curtis I need a sedative, strong enough to knock out a female werewolf," I instructed. Gary's eyes widened at my request.

"What are you going to do?" he questioned as Jake left.

"Everything I can."

I kept hoping that she would mention that she'd overheard my conversation with Blake but the longer it went without her admitting it to me, my uneasiness increased. It cemented the fear that she was planning something.

I tried to act as normal as possible but Scarlett picked up that there was something wrong.

While Scarlett was brushing her teeth, Jake knocked on the bedroom door. He handed me the syringe as he gave me a sympathetic look.

I closed the door and before Scarlett came out of the bathroom I got into our bed and hid the syringe under her pillow. I felt a pang of guilt but I tried to ignore it. I kept questioning if I was doing the right thing but I knew that keeping her alive was all that counted.

"Who was that?" she asked as she climbed into the bed. I pulled her into my arms and held her close as my hand reached for the hidden syringe.

"It was Jake. I needed him to do some stuff for me and he was just reporting back," I lied.

She closed her eyes and I realized how far I was willing to go to keep her safe—it made me realize that I loved her. I loved her more than the fate and destiny that joined us together.

"I love you," I whispered as I feathered a kiss against her forehead. She looked up at me, obviously surprised at my declaration.

"I love you too," she murmured. My happiness at the words she said was weighed down by the guilt that was building up inside of me.

"You are everything I ever wanted," I said quietly to her as she closed her eyes and I hugged her. At the same time I pushed the syringe into her back.

"I'm sorry," I whispered at her shocked and confused expression.

The sedative only took moments to knock her out. But just a few mumbled thoughts filtered through to me before she drifted off.

I can't let them die.

Give myself to Victor.

Anger welled up in me as I realized she'd been planning to sacrifice herself to keep everyone safe. Any guilt I felt about what I was about to do next evaporated.

I couldn't think of what would have happened if Gary hadn't told me that Scarlett had overheard my conversation with Blake. For her own good I was going to keep her safe, and I'd do whatever I had to.

I picked her up gently and carried her downstairs into the basement of the house where cells were located. I'd gotten Jake to get one ready for her.

I didn't know how I was going to face her once she woke up. She was going to be hurt and angry. I had no idea if it was something she would ever be able to forgive me for.

Inside the cell, I laid her on the bed gently. I pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, and let my eyes drift over her for a few moments before I turned and left the cell. I locked it behind me and left the room.

Outside in the hallway, I leaned against the wall next to the closed door and slid down the wall. I waited anxiously for her to wake up. I'd already set in motion my plans to protect her. I couldn't do this to her without coming up with a plan to keep her safe.

Finally, a few hours later I heard her gasp as I was pacing the hallway. She was awake and it was time to face her. The anger that I felt at the knowledge she had decided to give herself to Victor still simmered under the surface as I opened the door and stepped into the room.

She looked so fragile that I wanted to open the door and go to her, but I stopped myself.

"Take it easy, the effects will take a few minutes to wear off," I warned her when I saw her struggle to sit up.

Slowly I watched her piece what happened together and her eyes shot to mine. The hurt in her eyes nearly undid me. What had she expected me to do? Open the door and shove her in Victor's direction?

"I don't understand..." she began to say as she walked slowly to face me through the bars. She reached out to hold one of the bars.

"Don't touch the bars," I warned her. She stopped her hand just in time.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"The bars are covered in wolfsbane," I revealed. She clearly had no idea what that was.

"It'll burn your skin if you touch it," I told her. "It's a security precaution we take to keep werewolves from escaping."

"I don't understand," she whispered again. She looked at me like I'd just kicked a puppy.

"After you came downstairs last night I knew there was something up, I just had no idea what. I went to talk to Jake and Gary came to me. He told me that you'd overheard what Blake and I had been talking about. I had this dreaded feeling that you were going to do something stupid."

I waited for her to say something but she remained silent. I watched as anger ignited in her eyes. She was pissed.

"I began to understand why you were acting so strangely. I decided it was in your best interest to keep you confined so you wouldn't try and do something stupid. I knew you wouldn't be able to sit back and do nothing."

I paused for a moment as I tried to control my anger.

"It was only after I injected you with a sedative and I heard your jumbled thoughts did I realize how far you were prepared to go," I said, and my voice broke on the last word.

She kept silent.

"Do you have any idea what he might do to you?" I yelled at her when I finally snapped. "Do you have any idea what that would have done to me...your brother...or Gary?

It would have broken me. Did she not understand that?